There is a list of DCEDIY Early Years Recognised Qualifications for the purposes of meeting the minimum qualification requirement in the Tusla Early Years Regulations and for meeting the contractual requirements for the DCEDIY Childcare Funding Programmes has been published.

This list enables employees working in the Early Years sector in Ireland to verify whether the qualifications they hold will be recognised.

This list also sets out the qualifications that will be recognised for the purposes of the DCEDIY Childcare Programmes, in particular, that of the qualification requirement for the room leader in the ECCE programme and for a service to receive the ECCE Higher Capitation rate.

Where a qualification is not published on the list of DCEDIY Early Years Recognised Qualifications but the holder considers it to be an appropriate Major Award at Level 5 on the NFQ or equivalent, the holder can apply to have their qualification assessed for approval. If it is approved for recognition the details of the qualification will be added to the list of DCEDIY Early Years Recognised Qualifications.

The Application Form for Qualifications Recognition can be downloaded from the DCEDIY website Early Years DCEDIY Recognised Qualifications