Childcare Support Act 2018

Amendment of Act of 1991

22. The Act of 1991 is amended—

(a) in section 58A—

(i) by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘school’ has the same meaning as it has in the Education Act 1998 ;”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “school age service”:

“ ‘school age service’ means any early years service, play group, day nursery, crèche, day-care or other similar service which—

(a) caters for children under the age of 15 years enrolled in a school providing primary or post-primary education,

(b) provides a range of activities that are developmental, educational and recreational in manner, which take place outside of school hours, the primary purpose of which is to care for children where their parents are unavailable, and

(c) the basis for access to which is made publicly known to the parents and guardians of the children referred to in paragraph (a) of this definition,

but excludes those services—

(i) solely providing activities relating to—

(I) the Arts,

(II) youth work,

(III) competitive or recreational sport,

(IV) tuition, or

(V) religious teaching,

or

(ii) for whom statutory provision for inspection exists, prior to the commencement of this section;”,

(b) in section 58L by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) a person taking care of not more than 6 children, of which not more than 3 are pre-school children, of different families (other than that person’s own such children) at the same time in that person’s home, except where that person has been continuously registered as an early years service for a period of one year, wishes to remain on the register, and continues to satisfy such conditions as may be prescribed.”.