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

The improvements to pay are absolutely crucial and we agree on recruitment and retention. We will not attract the young women and men who graduate from early learning and care degrees around the country, both level seven and eight degrees, into this sector if they do not see a long term future for themselves. That is why when I first introduced core funding, I linked it to rates of pay. That is why there is an allocation in core funding for rates of pay and it is why we have provided this funding allocation in budget 2025, which was directly linked to improving rates of pay.

Just before the budget, I met with representatives of a number of the provider organisations such as Childhood Services Ireland, the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, Seas Suas and a number of others and I made the point that I felt the previous JLC process went on for far too long. There was actually money on the table to support pay increases that the Department of public expenditure nearly got back, which frustrates everybody. I have made that point and I am happy to make it again here today.

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