HOW TO HIRE · CHILDCARE & FAMILY · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
How to hire a crèche in Ireland
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.
A crèche in Ireland costs €150–€259 per week, typically around €190. Here is how to check that in a minute, what to ask before you book, and what you must be handed when the job is done.
- Search and compare — no account needed
- Nearest to you first
- One score from Google, Trustpilot and Locufy reviews
THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Hiring a crèche in five steps
- Are you on the Tusla Register of Early Years Services, and what is your number?A number you can look up yourself before you agree a price — play and learning — indoor and outdoor play, stories, music and early learning planned around the children in each room.
- How does hours each week change the price?A full-day place of more than 25 hours a week costs more than a part-time or sessional place. — ask before the quote rather than after.
- How does your child's age change the price?A place in the baby room can cost more than a place for an older child, because the youngest children need more staff. — ask before the quote rather than after.
- How does area change the price?Crèche fees are highest in Dublin, with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the top of the national range. — ask before the quote rather than after.
- What is not included?Sleep and rest — babies keep to their own sleep routine and younger children have a quiet time after lunch — get the exclusions named in the quote, because a crèche job is priced on what was agreed and not on what was assumed.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Check before you book
Tusla Register of Early Years Services
Find the service on the Tusla register for its county and check that the type of service and the ages listed match the place you are being offered. The latest inspection report is published by Tusla. The register lists each service with the type of service it offers, how many children it can accommodate and the ages of the children it cares for. It is updated monthly, sorted by county and town, and Tusla publishes its inspection reports. A pre-school service (a crèche, playschool, naíonra or Montessori preschool) and a school-age service (an after-school or breakfast club) must each be registered with Tusla's Early Years Inspectorate, which registers, inspects and, where necessary, takes enforcement action.
Search the Tusla Register of Early Years Services for the name or the registration number before you agree a price. tusla.ie →
Garda vetting
National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012–2016 A registered service has to obtain a Garda vetting disclosure for the registered provider, the person in charge and the staff who work with the children. Vetting is carried out by the service, not by a parent: ask how the service vets its staff.
Ask to see the garda vetting letter itself, with its date on it — not a statement that one exists.
Insurance
Expect the service must be adequately insured under the regulations; ask to see the insurance. Ask for the insurer, the limit and the Tusla registration number.
Ask to see the current certificate of insurance — the insurer's name, the limit and the date it runs to.
Trader or private seller
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 a trader must tell you they are a trader, and your consumer rights — work carried out with reasonable skill and care, and a cooling-off period on a contract agreed in your home or online — apply to traders and not to private sellers. On Locufy the trader status is shown on the profile.
Look for the trader badge on the Locufy profile, and ask anyone else for it in writing before you agree a price.
VAT
No VAT: this service is exempt, so there is none to add and none to reclaim. A quote that adds it is wrong. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately.
Ask for the Tusla registration number instead: childcare is exempt, so there is no VAT number to check, and the registration number is how you find the service on Tusla's register. revenue.ie →
A good answer: A number you can look up yourself before you agree a price — play and learning — indoor and outdoor play, stories, music and early learning planned around the children in each room.
A good answer: A full-day place of more than 25 hours a week costs more than a part-time or sessional place. — ask before the quote rather than after.
A good answer: A place in the baby room can cost more than a place for an older child, because the youngest children need more staff. — ask before the quote rather than after.
A good answer: Crèche fees are highest in Dublin, with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the top of the national range. — ask before the quote rather than after.
A good answer: Sleep and rest — babies keep to their own sleep routine and younger children have a quiet time after lunch — get the exclusions named in the quote, because a crèche job is priced on what was agreed and not on what was assumed.
A good answer: Expect the service must be adequately insured under the regulations; ask to see the insurance — meals and snacks — many crèches serve breakfast, a hot lunch and snacks as part of the fee; ask what is included and how allergies are handled.
A good answer: A written scope and a price before the crèche starts, and an itemised invoice after — care in groups by age — babies, toddlers and pre-school children are usually cared for in their own groups, each with a routine and staff to suit the age.
Getting the quote right
- Hours each week — a full-day place of more than 25 hours a week costs more than a part-time or sessional place.
- Your child's age — a place in the baby room can cost more than a place for an older child, because the youngest children need more staff.
- Area — crèche fees are highest in Dublin, with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the top of the national range.
- What the fee includes — meals, nappies and outings in the weekly fee, or charged as extras, change what the crèche costs.
- In writing before anyone starts — a message on Locufy counts
- What is NOT included, named
- The Tusla registration number, and whether it is on Tusla's register of early years services
Walk away if
- They are not on the Tusla Register of Early Years Services, or the number does not resolve to the name on the quote
- They will not talk about it: hours each week — a full-day place of more than 25 hours a week costs more than a part-time or sessional place
- They will not talk about it: your child's age — a place in the baby room can cost more than a place for an older child, because the youngest children need more staff
- They will not talk about it: area — crèche fees are highest in Dublin, with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the top of the national range
- A price for the crèche before anyone has asked the size, the access or the condition of what they are working on
- Cash only, or a large deposit before anything at all has started
What a crèche costs: €150–€259 per week
The figures are for the job, per week, and a quote for your own is the only number that binds anyone. Full-day place and Part-time place each carry their own band. Crèche price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE
Crèches near you, with the badges that matter shown
ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.
Or post the job free and let them come to you.
- Look firstHours each week — a full-day place of more than 25 hours a week costs more than a part-time or sessional place — that is what the crèche is judging on the first visit, and a price given without it is a guess.
- Agree what is being doneYour child's age — a place in the baby room can cost more than a place for an older child, because the youngest children need more staff — put in writing before anyone starts, because it is the document you both read back at the end.
- The work itselfArea — crèche fees are highest in Dublin, with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the top of the national range — and anything found on the day that was not in that is priced before it is started.
- Check it togetherWhat the fee includes — meals, nappies and outings in the weekly fee, or charged as extras, change what the crèche costs — walked against the written scope rather than against the feeling of it, while the crèche is still there.
- What you are handedThe itemised invoice and any guarantee on the workmanship and the parts, subsidies — National Childcare Scheme subsidies are taken off the crèche fee before you pay it.
- Care in groups by age
- Babies, toddlers and pre-school children are usually cared for in their own groups, each with a routine and staff to suit the age.
- Meals and snacks
- Many crèches serve breakfast, a hot lunch and snacks as part of the fee; ask what is included and how allergies are handled.
- Sleep and rest
- Babies keep to their own sleep routine and younger children have a quiet time after lunch.
- Play and learning
- Indoor and outdoor play, stories, music and early learning planned around the children in each room.
- Full-day place
- Care for a working day, five days a week or on the days you choose, with meals and naps included in the routine.
- Part-time place
- Mornings or shorter days, usually between about 18 and 25 hours a week, priced below a full-day place.
AFTER
When the job is done
Hiring a crèche: questions people ask
Typically €150–€259 a week for a full-day place in Ireland, before any subsidy, with Dublin at the top of that range. Enter your area above to see crèches near you.
Yes: every crèche must be registered with Tusla's Early Years Inspectorate, which inspects it and publishes the reports. You can check a crèche on the Tusla register before you visit.
Yes, if the crèche is registered with Tusla and contracted with the Department. The subsidy is paid to the crèche and taken off your bill.
Many do. ECCE gives three free hours a day in term to children who qualify, and a crèche can run those hours inside a longer day, charging only for the extra time.
It varies by crèche. Some take babies from a few months old and some start at toddler age; each profile shows the ages it takes.
Enter your town, area or Eircode above. The nearest crèches come first, with the care they offer and the ages they take.
MORE GUIDES
More hiring guides in childcare & family
Crèches near you
Sources — checked October 2026
- Tusla — Early Years Inspectorate
- Tusla — Register of Early Years Services by County
- S.I. No. 221/2016 — Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016
- S.I. No. 575/2018 — Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018
- Revenue — Childcare, child protection (VAT)
- Citizens Information — Early Childhood Care and Education programme (ECCE)
- Citizens Information — National Childcare Scheme
- Consumer Rights Act 2022
- Revenue — CHILDCARE - CHILD PROTECTION (Children and education) — Exempt
- Revenue — current VAT rates (effective 1 January 2026)
- Revenue — VAT thresholds: €42,500 for a person supplying services only