Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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146. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of childcare workers qualified in early childhood care and education to Further Education and Training Awards Council Levels 5, 6 and 7; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25456/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Prior to the introduction of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme in 2010, there was no minimum qualification requirement for staff working in the early years sector. Under the ECCE programme, all pre-school leaders were required to hold a Level 5 qualification. In addition, pre-school services could qualify for a higher capitation rate where all the pre-school leaders, in the ECCE room, held a Level 7 qualification, and all the pre-school assistants held a Level 5 qualification. This represented a major step forward in improving the quality of early years.

Nearly all of the pre-school services in the country are participating in the ECCE programme. In 2010, a total of 3,787 services were under contract to deliver the free pre-school year under the ECCE programme. Of these 82 per cent met the basic capitation criteria, and 11 per cent met the higher capitation criteria. In 2015, a total of 4,371 services are under contract to deliver the ECCE programme with 72 per cent meeting the basic capitation criteria, and 28 per cent meeting the higher capitation criteria.

According to the findings from the Annual Survey of Early Years Services (2014), which is undertaken by Pobal on the Department’s behalf, almost 87 per cent of staff in early years services hold a qualification equal to or higher than the Level 5 qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) and almost 50 per cent of staff hold a Level 6 qualification or higher on the NFQ. The findings of the survey also show that almost 5 per cent of staff hold qualifications at Level 7 (ordinary degree) and over 9 per cent hold a Level 8 (honours degree) award.