Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum (ELCSF) is the main consultation mechanism between the ELC Division of my Department and the stakeholders in the ELC sector.

The high level objectives of the ELCSF are to support evidence based decision making and policy making, informed by the sector; to give stakeholders the opportunity to develop, and deliver on, a shared vision with my Department; and to give stakeholders the opportunity to raise issues with me and officials in my Department and to contribute to the design of solutions.

The membership of the ELCSF is made up of stakeholder groups representing children, families, providers educators and practitioners, academics and other groups with an interest in ELC. State bodies and agencies involved in the regulation or delivery of ELC services, or the development or delivery of polices which impact on ELC are also be members of the Forum.

The ELCSF met 6 times in 2022 and 6 times in 2023.

Subgroups of the ELCSF are formed as appropriate. At present, there is a Core Funding Financial Returns Sub-Group, an Administrative and Regulatory Simplification Advisory Group and a Workforce Recruitment and Retention Sub-Group.

The Recruitment and Retention Sub-Group provides an opportunity for information-sharing and discussion between my Department and key stakeholders on current recruitment and retention challenges in the sector and for the advantages and disadvantages of possible measures that might be introduced to improve workforce recruitment and retention.

The Sub-Group has met on 2 occasions, most recently on 7 February, with the next planned meeting set for the 20th May.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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424. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); if he will consider allowing for childcare assistants who are undergoing training to be included in staff-children ratios, provided they are under the supervision of fully qualified childcare staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20188/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In setting regulatory requirements, the primary consideration must be children’s health, safety and well-being.

The adult-to-child ratios for Early Learning and Care (ELC) services are set out in Schedule 6 of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 with School age childcare (SAC) services' adult-to-child ratios are set out in Regulation 9 of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018. The ratios are the minimum number of adults required to supervise, care for and work directly with the children in the service.

These adult-child ratios as set out in the regulations are among the more favourable in Europe according to the most recent (2019) edition of the Eurydice / European Commission report on 'Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe'.

There are no plans at present to revise the minimum adult-to-child ratio for ELC or SAC services.

I acknowledge that many early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services report staffing challenges 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.

Providers of ELC and SAC are private businesses. As the State does not employ staff in ELC and SAC services, neither I nor my Department can set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector.

However, there is now, through the independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process, a formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate terms and conditions of employment including minimum pay rates for different roles in ELC and SAC services.

In line with commitments in First 5, in December 2021, I launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC), 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in ELC and SAC and to raise the profile of careers in the sector. It includes a career framework and commitments to support early years educators to upskill and develop their careers. It also includes commitments to strengthen continuing professional development for staff working in the sector.

Pillar 4 of Nurturing Skills includes a commitment to examine the development of a range of entry routes into the sector, including apprenticeships or other work-based learning, and access programmes in further education and higher education.

In December last year, I established a sub-group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum to discuss issues of recruitment and retention with stakeholders in the sector. This group is continues to meet in 2024.

In addition, my Department, will again facilitated an accelerated process for assessment of equivalence for students to meet entry level qualification requirements to work in the sector from early May this year. This measure will help services with short-term staffing challenges over the summer period.