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

Significant progress has been made in advancing plans for a dedicated State agency for early learning and care. The programme for Government contained a commitment to advance that. It is envisaged this agency will undertake some functions currently carried out by Pobal early years, including the Better Start programme, the 30 city and county childcare committees, as well as operational functions currently carried out directly in my Department.

A programme oversight board has been established for the agency and is tasked with overseeing the analysis and design phase of the programme. This board will ensure proposals for the new agency are based on offering the best possible services to children and their families, educators and practitioners, and service providers while also providing value for money.

My Department is engaging with independent consultants who have been contracted to carry out a phased research, analysis and stakeholder engagement to inform the design of the agency. This work, which is expected to take 18 to 24 months, is focused on information gathering, analysis and an initial design phase to take place throughout 2024 and 2025. A second phase relates to a more in-depth design and costing exercise to take place from 2025 and is scheduled to take six to nine months. The work will culminate in a costed agency design, including the remit, organisational structure and service delivery model, which will be presented to Government for approval.

My Department is committed to ongoing consultation with all stakeholders throughout the design process. That consultation is very important. There are many players in this area doing really good work. The introduction of an agency would be a significant change in this landscape. That is why it is important we are talking to the stakeholders. A series of stakeholder consultation sessions have already been held with key stakeholders and valuable input has been received as part of a collaborative co-design process to develop a vision, mission and values for the agency. A report has been compiled from these consultations and has been circulated to the principal stakeholders. Further stakeholder consultations are scheduled for May and consultations will continue throughout the lifetime of this programme.

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