The development of a National Framework for Quality in early childhood care and education in Ireland is the main focus of the work of the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education. A central element of the brief for this groundbreaking initiative is that it must have relevance for all settings where children aged birth to six are present. This paper discusses a key step in meeting this challenge. It outlines a process of national consultation to establish baseline perceptions among all stakeholders in relation to the core elements of the framework (defining, assessing and supporting quality). It discusses the rationale for the consultation that is premised upon a belief that the best interests of the child can only be served by policy and practice that has been informed by the consensus arising from the interface of the multiple perspectives that characterise early childhood care and education in Ireland. The findings, distilled from thematic analysis of the data collected from the series of six consultations in six locations, are presented and their implications for the development of a National Framework for Quality discussed. (Contains 5 notes and 4 figures.)