Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge that many early learning and childcare services report recruitment and retention challenges. In general, these challenges are not caused by insufficient supply of staff, but by high levels of turnover. Data from the sector profile survey shows a turnover rate of 24.5% in 2023, with almost one third of the turnover rate due to staff moving from one provider to another. I note that new data on the number of educators or practitioners working in the sector increased by 10% between 2023 and 2024.

Turnover is linked to pay and working conditions. However, while the Government is the primary funder of the sector, the State is not an employer of staff. Neither I nor my Department set pay or working conditions. The joint labour committee process is the mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in law through employment regulation orders. Outcomes from the joint labour committee process are supported by the Government through core funding, which has seen its allocation increase from €259 million in year 1 to €350 million for the coming year 2025 to 2026. An additional €45 million has been ring-fenced to support employers in meeting the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation is conditional on updated employment regulation orders.

I recently met joint labour committee representatives - in fact, I met them again today - to acknowledge their important role and to emphasise the Government’s expectation that any newly negotiated orders fully utilise the ring-fenced the funding available. My officials also continue to discuss issues of recruitment and retention with stakeholders through a subgroup of the early learning and childcare stakeholder forum. While the general consensus of the group is that pay is the single biggest issue, the group continues to identify other actions, including: a student fast-track process; the assessment of unfinished qualifications; and an agreement to promote careers in the sector.

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