James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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60. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his Department’s plans to improve the pay and conditions of professionals in the childcare sector and to help increase the availability of childcare places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15481/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On this issue of pay and conditions, I firmly believe that the level of pay in the sector should reflect the value of the work that early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners do for children, for families, for society and the economy. The most recent available data indicates the average hourly wage for non-managerial staff in the sector in 2021 was €12.60, with many staff working part-time or on temporary contracts. These data underscore the need for significant improvement in both pay and conditions of employment.

As the Deputy is aware, the State is not the employer, and my Department does not set wage levels nor determine working conditions for staff in the sector. However, I am doing all that is in my power to address the issue.

In particular, I began a process in December 2020 to examine the possibility of regulating pay and conditions and the suitability of a Joint Labour Committee for the sector. This process culminated in the establishment of a Joint Labour Committee, which began meeting in December 2021.

Supported by the new Core Funding stream I announced in Budget 2022, there is now a real prospect of improvement in pay and conditions through the Joint Labour Committee. The scale of allocation under the new Core Funding stream - which is €73.5m in 2022 and equivalent to more than €221m in a full year - will, among a number of objectives, enable providers to meet the conditions that may be set in an Employment Regulation Order.

In addition, in December 2021, I published "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028", which includes commitments to develop career pathways, promote careers in the sector, and strengthen supports for continuing professional development, which will complement efforts to improve pay and conditions of employment in the sector.

On this issue of capacity, the availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority. To ensure that the supply of early learning and childcare places meets demand, my Department has, since 2015, funded the creation of more than 27,000 new places through an Annual Capital Programme.

Before the onset of Covid-19, national data indicated that, on the whole, supply of early learning and childcare places was meeting demand, with evidence of undersupply for certain age groups including children under 3, and in certain areas.

Data gathered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic revealed lower demand for early learning and childcare, and reduced occupancy among early learning and childcare services. Indeed, data captured in June 2021 found significant vacancy rates across the country – with the national vacancy rate averaging at 21%.

My Department is continuing to monitor early learning and childcare capacity, particularly in light of the recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Pobal has, using the data captured in June 2021 and current registration data, recently projected vacancy rates in February 2022. While this analysis shows a fall in vacancy rates from June 2021 to February 2022 – with vacancy rates falling from 21% to 19%, this analysis suggests that there is unused capacity across the country. Further analysis is being undertaken by Pobal to establish if this unused capacity varies by type of provision or location, to establish the degree of mismatch is supply and demand for certain cohorts or children or in certain areas. Pobal will also commence new data collection in April 2022, as part of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey. This will allow for updated information on capacity among early learning and childcare services to be established and will inform the necessary steps to be taken by my Department to address any issue of under supply, in addition to steps already in train.

Existing steps include:

- The new funding model, to roll out in September, which will provide funding for services aligned to costs of delivery so, for example, greater funding will be available to services that cater for younger children where costs of delivery are higher than older children.

- An allocation of €70m under revised National Development Plan (NDP) – with the majority of this funding earmarked for new places.

- An updating of the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings, by my Department in partnership with the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government (DHPLG)

- Proactive engagement of City/County Childcare Committees with early learning and childcare services in areas where there is unmet need for early learning and childcare from families.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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61. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline the core funding proposals for the childcare sector and any delays in the publication of those proposals. [14269/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Budget 2022 announced the introduction of the new Core Funding stream, the details of which were further articulated in Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare published in December 2021.

Core Funding will be available to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers for the 2022/2023 programme year, subject to an Employment Regulation Order being agreed by the Joint Labour Committee and coming into effect.

Core Funding is designed to meet the combined objectives of:

- Improved affordability for parents by ensuring that fees do not increase;

- Improved quality through, among other things, better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on an Employment Regulation Order through the Joint Labour Committee;

- Supporting the employment of graduate staff; and

- Improved sustainability and stability for services.

Under Core Funding providers will be supported in meeting their operating costs, including increased costs related to improved quality, in return for a commitment that fees to parents will not increase. The commitment not to increase fees will ensure that the full affordability benefits of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are felt by parents.

Core Funding is equivalent to €221 million in a full programme year. €183 million of the €221 million will be distributed based on the capacity that the service is offering to provide (child places, age groups, hours and weeks). €38 million will be distributed in line with ELC graduate qualifications of ELC Lead Educators and Managers in ELC or combined ELC and SAC services.

The development of Core Funding is a significant milestone on the journey towards a new funding model. It aims to transform of the sector and establish a new type of partnership between providers and the State that reflects the importance of ELC and SAC for the public good.

On Monday 7^thMarch I wrote to ELC and SAC providers to provide detailed information on how Core Funding will operate and to provide the rates at which it will be paid. I also launched an online tool or Ready Reckoner which allows ELC and SAC providers to see the potential impact of this funding on their individual service. The Core Funding Ready Reckoner is accessible to all on the Early Years Hive and is designed to give an idea of what services can expect to receive based on their characteristics and to allow different scenarios of provision to be tested. Further information is available on the website of the Early Years Hive and support, guidance and training is available through City and County Childcare Committees.

The key dates in preparation for Core Funding becoming operational for the 2022/2023 programme year are:

- 7^thMarch: The online tool (Ready Reckoner) becomes available to provide approximate estimates of potential Core Funding values for individual services

Stage 1 of the application process opens in April:

- Begins with the Sector Profile and Income and Costs Survey, which is a pre-requisite for application for Core Funding

Stage 2 of the application process opens in June:

- Providers define their service’s profile and their capacity in detail in an online form

- Core Funding value is communicated to providers (subject to final verifications and confirmations)

- The provider contract will be published so applicants can review what they will later be asked to sign

Stage 3 of the application process opens in August:

- Individual contracts will start to be made available to successful applicants for signature

- End August: payments to providers commence. Payments will be made monthly in advance throughout the programme year.

In the interim period, until April 2022, ELC and SAC employers continue to be eligible to access the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) without having to demonstrate the reduction in turnover which is required of other employers. EWSS has provided very substantial investment in the sector since August 2020. Following the cessation of EWSS at end April 2022, ELC and SAC providers will have access to a Transition Fund between May and August in advance of the introduction of Core Funding from September. An announcement with further detail on the Transition Fund is due to be made shortly.