Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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330. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if any provision is to be made in the graduate premium under the new core funding childcare model for non-level 8 graduates with long years of practical experience, acting as lead educators or managers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17315/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Core Funding is a new funding stream for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services introduced in Budget 2022 and informed by the work of the Expert Group to develop a new funding model for ELC and SAC, outlined in Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare.

Core Funding is a payment to providers designed to meet the combined objectives of:

- Improved quality through, among other things, better pay and conditions for the workforce;

- Supporting the establishment of an Employment Regulation Order through the Joint Labour Committee;

- Supporting the employment of graduate staff;

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

- Improved sustainability and stability for services.

On 7th March I announced the rates and values for the Core Funding, and launched the online Ready Reckoner tool. The Ready Reckoner is accessible to all and is designed to give an idea of what services can expect to receive based on their characteristics. It also allows different scenarios of provision to be tested. This will show the benefits of applying for Core Funding when it is possible to do so.

The majority of Core Funding (i.e. €183 million of €221 million) will be distributed based on a service's capacity, and will be available to all services who sign up the scheme, regardless of the qualification levels of staff. Capacity relates to the number of hours of operation of the service and the age group for whom the service is provided as these are key determinants of the service's operating costs.

Core Funding will support the quality of services by better enabling providers to attract and retain staff; establish career structures; introduce or improve other features of provision that are demonstrated to contribute to quality (e.g. non-contact time, planning, training, curriculum implementation). Staff costs comprise approximately 70% of services' operating costs. €138 million has been allocated as part of the Core Funding package to contribute to staff costs. This is in addition to existing income from other funding schemes and parents' fees.

The precise implications of the funding for staff pay and conditions depends on the agreement of an Employment Regulation Order (ERO) by the Joint Labour Committee (JLC). However, the level of funding provided is significant enough to achieve a substantial improvement in levels of staff pay for the sector as a whole as well as the development of career frameworks. Improved terms and conditions, opportunities for progression and greater rates of staff retention are important steps to improving quality in the sector.and the development of career frameworks.

Core Funding will also make a contribution to non-staff overheads (for example, utilities, rent). In a full year, there is an allocation of €20 million for a contribution to non-staff overhead costs through Core Funding. This is the first time this type of funding has been provided.

Extra funding to support administration costs is also contained within Core Funding. This means that the budget previously allocated to Programme Support Payments (PSP), with an increased allocation, is now incorporated into Core Funding. Core Funding will make €25 million available to providers to support the costs of administrative time.

The remaining €38 million is allocated to contribute to support the employment of graduates with a relevant degree at level 7 or above and three years of experience in two types of leadership roles - as Lead Educators across ELC and as Managers in ELC or combined ELC and SAC services. This aspect of Core Funding will encourage employment of graduates as Lead Educators across all ELC, not just in ECCE rooms as was the case with higher capitation payments.

First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their familiesand Core Funding recognise that the workforce is at the heart of high-quality ELC. Strong international evidence shows that children achieve better outcomes when staff are well qualified. First 5 seeks to continue to build an appropriately skilled and sustainable professional workforce, and includes a commitment to achieve a graduate-led workforce by 2028.

In December last year, I launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in ELC and SAC.

In particular, Nurturing Skills commits to the provision of funded places on flexible education programmes at levels 6 to 8 for current early years educators. This new funding will support upskilling and strengthen career development pathways for those working in the sector, reducing the cost to educators of undertaking further and higher education qualifications. The new funding scheme will also develop and introduce mechanisms for providing financial support to ELC services to help meet the costs of releasing staff to go on student practice placements and study leave. Plans for the new funding scheme are currently being developed.

This planned new funding for educators to upskill is in addition to financial supports that are already in place for educators undertaking qualifications. Existing financial supports include the Free Fees Initiative. My Department has since 2014 provided a number of rounds of funding for early years educators to undertake qualifications through the Learner Fund.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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331. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline the way a graduate lead manager will meet the conditions of the role of being present on the premises throughout its opening period when many facilities operate for 50 hours or more per week; if he has sought advice on the way this will be facilitated within existing graduate employment contracts of 40 hours per week; if sick pay and holiday pay are included in the proposed graduate premium; if the graduate premium costs are extended to cover the facilities afterschool services; if he will review the funding structure which is presently related to hours worked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17316/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Under First 5, the Whole-of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) has been developing a new funding model for ELC and SAC. An Expert Group was convened to provide recommendations for this model, and their report, Partnership for the Public Good: a New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare was published in December 2021. Their recommendations were accepted in full by Government.

Core Funding was identified in this report as a key element of the new funding model, which consists of four elements: 1 – Core Funding. 2 – Tackling Disadvantage funding (to be developed after Core Funding is implemented). 3 – National Childcare Scheme (NCS) with some developments. 4 – the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme with some amendments.

Core Funding is a payment to providers designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management, with associated conditions in relation to fee control and cost transparency, incorporating funding for administration and to support the employment of graduate staff. Core Funding aims to offer better financial sustainability to providers in return for a cultural shift to a partnership relationship between providers and the State that reflects the public good dimension of ELC and SAC.

For the purposes of allocating a Graduate Manager Premium, Core Funding follows the definition of ‘manager’ as set out in Nurturing Skills – The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028: “The term Manager is used in the Workforce Plan to refer to the person in charge of a setting, as defined in the Early Years Regulations 2016 and SAC Regulations 2018, i.e. ‘the person who has day-to-day charge of the service’. While ELC and SAC services vary considerably in their legal and organisational structures, every service must – as a condition of its registration – have a designated person in charge (here termed the ‘Manager’) who is responsible for the daily running of the service and – unless deputised by a named person – must be on the premises at all times when the service is being carried on.”

With this in mind, an ELC Graduate Manager Premium will be applied for the duration of time a Manager is present on the premises. While more than one person may fill the role of Manager, due to the facilities operating in excess of the working hours of a manager, the amount of hours eligible for the Graduate Manager Premium cannot exceed the hours assigned to the Designated Person in Charge of the setting as defined in the Early Years Regulations 2016 and School Age Childcare Regulations 2018.

For example, if a childcare service operates for 60 hours a week and the Designated Person in Charge works for 40 hours a week, they may also have a deputised named person who covers the remaining 20 hours. However, only the hours worked by the Designated Person in Charge (the manger for the purposes of Core Funding) are counted towards calculating the Graduate Manager Premium – assuming the person in question is an ELC graduate with the necessary experience.

Core Funding allocations are not calculated on the basis of staff pay, including sick pay and annual leave. Core Funding is calculated on the basis of capacity; that is, the number of places that can be offered to children of different ages and the amount of time (in terms of hours per day and weeks per year) that they are offered. More capacity results in a higher cost base, especially staff costs, which is why more funding is allocated to services offering a greater level of capacity. Contributing to improved terms and conditions is one of the central aims the funding allocation is intended to achieve.

Concerning ELC Graduates leading an SAC session, only ELC sessions can have a Graduate Lead Educator Premium when led by an ELC Graduate as there currently is no list of approved qualifications for School Age Childcare services.

Further information will continue to be available here and support, guidance and training will continue to be available through the City and County Childcare Committees.