Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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160. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of early years assistants, room leaders, deputy managers, and centre managers in the childcare sector to date, or as of the most recent date for which data is available. [24282/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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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.

During the development of Nurturing Skills, the Steering Group agreed that final decisions on terminology for the profession should be a matter for future decision by a professional body for the sector, whether that is a professional regulator or a professional association. However, in the interim, the working title chosen to describe those working in centre-based ELC is the term that attracted the greatest support in the public consultation process.

Nurturing Skills identified initial roles as:

- Early years educator / School-age childcare practitioner;

- Lead Educator,

- Manager (both ELC and SAC).

Every year Pobal compiles data on behalf of my Department from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey (AEYSP). The most recently published data for the 2020/21 programme year provided the below breakdown of staff working directly with children by roles. The below data is extrapolated based on the response rate of the survey.