Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy and I have spoken about this issue for as long as I have been in this role and I think both of us are of the belief that the level of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners should reflect the value of their work for children, families, society and the economy.

The State is not the employer and does not set the pay and conditions for employees in early learning and childcare services. However, there is now through the joint labour committee, JLC, process a formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate pay rates in this sector.

Last September, the first ERO for early years services came into effect, providing minimum hourly rates of pay for different roles, including higher minimum rates for those in leadership roles and those with graduate qualifications, thus establishing a wage structure for staff for the first time. The ERO applies to all who are in direct contact with children in early learning and care and school-age childcare services. In total, the order applies to more than 26,000 staff. While some staff already earned more than the minimum rates, we believe the ERO improved pay for over 70% of those 26,000 staff in the sector.

This historic achievement was achieved through the core funding investment my Department secured, which supports service providers in meeting the additional costs resulting from the ERO, while also providing for a freeze on parental fees and assisting services with financial sustainability.

In budget 2023, I announced the core funding allocation will increase by €28 million in year two and signalled that €4 million of that allocation will support the removal of the three-year experience rule for graduate premiums, subject to the amendment of the current ERO. The allocation of the remaining €24 million will be informed by the emerging data from the first year of funding, but could potentially support further increases in minimum rates of pay across the sector if the JLC agreed to amend an ERO for the year.

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