6,402 children made use of the free childcare scheme between 1 January and 30 September this year, with the government forking out €17.3 million for the service.

The information was tabled in Parliament by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo in reply to a Parliamentary Question by Government Whip Byron Camilleri.

2,485 children made use of the scheme for the first time this year.

A total of 6,737 children attended the scheme in 2018, when the government paid €20.5 million.

The scheme was launched in April 2014. During that year, 3,856 were enrolled in the scheme, which cost the taxpayer €5.2 million.