John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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540. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures her Department is taking to attract trained and qualified staff to the early years workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30909/17]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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546. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures her Department is taking to attract trained and qualified staff to the early years workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30907/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 540 and 546 together.

I am very much aware of the difficulties being reported regarding the recruitment and retention of early years staff. The matter has been discussed at the Early Years Forum which I chair, and in other fora with my Department.

We are working with the Department of Education and Skills to develop a new Early Years workforce plan. This will examine workforce supply issues.

I am also aware that pay and conditions of staff is a significant barrier to retaining staff in the sector. Whilst my Department is not an employer of childcare workers, we are a significant funder. I am committed to the development of high quality services in this country and it has been proven that high quality care is dependent on a workforce that feels valued. My Department is working with the sector to explore how we can improve retention rates. The Programme for Government contains 14 commitments to improving access to high quality, affordable childcare. The Affordable Childcare Scheme, which is currently under development, will provide an important infrastructure for future investment in the Early Years sector.

It is clear that we need to focus collaboratively on how best to make the early years sector a more attractive and personally rewarding place in which to work.  I think that pay is only one issue, although, clearly an important one.  The fact that we are investing considerably increased resources in the sector will also be important.  In Budget 2017 I secured a 35% increase in childcare funding, up by €120m to €466m.  This was on top of a 35% increase in Budget 2016 also.

These increases reflect the emphasis I am placing on developing a quality service with appropriately supported staff.  In this regard, the City & County Childcare Committees are assisting services who experience difficulties in recruiting or retaining staff, and the Learner Funds are in place to support staff in achieving minimum qualification requirements, both regulatory and contractual.

The existing workforce are a significant resource and substantial investment in upskilling and CPD opportunities for early years practitioners has been put in to the sector by my Department, e.g. through the Learner Fund, the National Síolta Aistear Initiative and the Leadership for Inclusion in Early Years Settings, known as LINC under the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM). The Department of Education and Skills (DES) are undertaking a review of education programmes in Early Childhood Education and Care to ensure that the quality and content of further and higher education programmes prepare early years professionals for practice in the sector. My Department welcomes this work including the recent establishment of a Working Group chaired by DES that has been tasked with the development of a draft set of Criteria and Guidelines for higher education programmes that offer Initial Professional Education for early years professionals, that will be available for wider consultation with the sector before the end of the year. 

Childcare workers are part of a growing sector, which the Government is strongly supporting.  I believe that by working together we can ensure that it is a viable and strong sector which makes a significant contribution to the care and personal development of our children.