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

The Deputy is right in saying we need increased capacity. The building blocks grant will be very important. In July we hope to put out a call for applications for services to be able to apply for extensions or financial support to build new services with a view that that would be called down in 2024. There is real pressure on staff within the childcare system at the moment. One of the best ways we can reduce that is to address the issue of pay. That is why it was so important that we got the employment regulation order agreed. It was important that 25,000 childcare professionals across the country got a pay increase, many of them for the first time, in September of last year. I want to see a new employment regulation order agreed. Those negotiations have begun in the joint labour committee. The Government has put forward an extra €28 million in core funding in year 2 to support services to reach a new employment regulation order and achieve better pay for staff.

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