Seanad debates

Tuesday, 11 December 2018

Commencement Matters

Preschool Services

10:30 am

Photo of Catherine ByrneCatherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for tabling this Commencement matter. I am delighted that he has had a conversation with officials from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The Minister, Deputy Zappone, has asked me to take this matter.

The matter concerns the remuneration of early learning and care practitioners in preschool settings. The Minister has been unequivocal in her support for better pay and conditions for staff in the sector. It is her belief early learning and care practitioners play a crucial role for families and children and that they deserve to be recognised and valued. In return, the evidence shows that a valued workforce deliver higher quality services to children. However, the Department is not the employer of early learning and care staff and does not pay the salaries of staff working in early learning and care settings. Therefore, the Minister cannot set wage levels.In this regard, the preschool context is different from the situation in primary and post-primary schools. Given this context, the Minister has been clear that there are limits to the actions that her Department can take. However, the Minister has supported a range of measures to improve pay and conditions using the tools available to her. In particular, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs has seen a 117% increase in investment in the sector over the past four budgets, rising from a budget of circa €260 million in 2015 to €575 million in 2019. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has used some of this budget to introduce additional capitation to services, for example, a 7% rise this September in the ECCE capitation rate. Programme support payments to recognise the administrative roles that services play have also been introduced totalling €18 million per annum for the past two years, with €21.4 million available in 2019. The Department has also continued to provide a higher rate of capitation payment for graduate-led preschool rooms to encourage the attraction and retention of graduate staff. This year, the Minister also introduced a pilot measure to fund services whose staff take part in continuing professional development, CPD. It is the Minister's hope and intention that these additional investment measures should be reflected in the pay and conditions of staff in preschool services.

The Minister has also repeatedly called for the sector to pursue a sectoral employment order, which offers a possible mechanism to establish appropriate wage levels. As the Senator will be aware, the Minister cannot initiate a sectoral employment order, nor can officials in her Department, but she is keen to co-operate with such a process if and when it is undertaken. Many early learning and care settings are open throughout the summer months and this is reflected in the remuneration to their staff. Some services choose to offer the ECCE programme only and as a result do not open during the summer months. The arrangement they make with staff in respect of remuneration during this time is a matter for the individual employer. However, the introduction of the affordable childcare scheme in autumn 2019 will for the first time allow an individual child to benefit from both the ECCE programme and a targeted funding scheme. The wrap-around character of the affordable childcare scheme will make it easier for early learning and care and school age childcare services to operate year-round, including during the summer months, if they should choose to do so.

On the question of in-service training with primary school teachers, I refer the Senator to First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their families, launched on 19 November. It is important to acknowledge that early learning and care is a profession of and in itself, and not all training accessed by primary school teachers will be relevant to the preschool context or vice versa. However, there are important areas of shared responsibility and interest, including supporting children's transitions between preschool and primary school. First 5 includes a specific commitment to develop links between CPD opportunities for the early learning and care workforce and the national structure for CPD of primary school teachers. First 5 also commits to consideration of opportunities for joint delivery of CPD programmes, where appropriate.

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