Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will give a complete breakdown of the total Learner Fund of €3 million; and the way it is allocated and provided. [25654/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department is currently progressing the Early Years Quality Agenda with the objective of improving the quality of childcare services available to young children. As part of this process, all staff working directly with children in pre-school services will be required to hold a major award in early childhood care and education at Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), or the equivalent. This minimum qualification will be a requirement under the revised Childcare Regulations and, when commenced, staff who wish to continue in employment in the childcare sector must satisfy this new qualification requirement.

In relation to the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, it will be a contractual requirement that all pre-school leaders delivering the free pre-school year hold a major award in early childhood care and education at Level 6 on NFQ or the equivalent.

Specific funding of €3 million has been provided in 2014/15 under the Learner Fund to assist staff already working in the childcare sector to meet these new childcare qualification requirements. I understand that all eligible applicants were approved for funding with almost 3,000 childcare staff supported to meet the new qualification requirements.

Funding is provided to each City or County Childcare Committee (CCC) to provide for the number of childcare staff in their region that have been approved for support under the Learner Fund to undertake Level 5 and Level 6 courses with training providers from an approved panel. Participating staff avail of the courses by way of classroom attendance or by enrolling for online courses or by a mix of these two options. Some staff may undertake all 8 modules which make up the Major Award with others undertaking a smaller number which would be the balance required for them to achieve the major award. The maximum cost per module for those participating in classroom based courses is €200 per module with the Fund providing €150 of this amount. For those availing of blended/online courses, the cost per module is €150 with the Fund providing €120 of that amount.

There were two opportunities provided for staff to enrol for these courses and a breakdown of funding provided and the numbers of staff availing of the fund in each CCC area is shown below.

Pobal has indicated that 74 per cent of staff supported by the Learner Fund were seeking to achieve the Level 6 award with 26 per cent seeking to achieve the Level 5 award.

Learner Fund