Written answers
Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Early Childhood Care and Education
Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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70. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the supports that are being put in place to assist the childcare sector, which is struggling to recruit and retain staff in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency, which takes in parts of south Donegal and north Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25943/23]
Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I acknowledge that many early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services report staffing difficulties in relation to recruitment and retention. In general, staffing pressures in the sector are caused not by insufficient supply of qualified personnel, but by high levels of staff turnover.
However, providers of ELC and SAC are private businesses. As the State does not employ staff in ELC and SAC services, neither I or my Department can set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector.
Recruitment and retention difficulties are undoubtedly linked to pay and conditions. There is now, through the independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process, a formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates for different roles in ELC and SAC services.
On 15 September 2022, two Employment Regulation Orders for Early Years Services, negotiated through the JLC, came into effect, providing for minimum hourly rates of pay for various roles in ELC and SAC services.
The Orders are being supported by Core Funding – which has an allocation of €259 million in its first year – to support amongst other things, improvements in staff wages, alongside a commitment to freeze parental fees and support for sustainability of services. As announced in Budget 2023, the Core Funding allocation will increase by €28 million for the second year.
I understand that the JLC for Early Years Services is continuing to meet in relation to possible future pay negotiations.
I am also committed to addressing other challenges which may impact on the recruitment and retention of staff in the sector. In December 2021, I published "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for ELC and SAC, 2022-2028". Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. One of the five "pillars" of Nurturing Skills comprises commitments aimed at supporting recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector.
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