Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government.

My Department has in place a range of supports and funding schemes to support the delivery of early learning and childcare places and services are independently operated, either by community not-for-profit or by private for-profit providers.

The level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially year-on-year between 2022 and 2023 as evidenced by survey data collected by Pobal, by administrative data from Core Funding and the National Childcare Scheme and registration data collected by Tusla.

However, there is also evidence that demand for places is increasing and, for certain cohorts and in certain areas, outstripping supply. This is partly driven by the significant improvements in affordability that have been achieved in recent years and I acknowledge that some families experience challenges in accessing places, particularly for younger children.

The design of funding schemes and the increased allocation of resources to the sector is supporting ongoing expansion of capacity, and in particular for young children. The rates of both the National Childcare Scheme and Core Funding are weighted towards funding for young children given the higher staff costs that are required to operate at lower ratios.

Additionally, capital funding has been allocated to the early learning and childcare sector under the revised National Development Plan (NDP). This will enable significant investment in further expansion of capacity. The Building Blocks Grant schemes are focused on increasing the number of full and part-time places available for 1-3 year olds. Appraisal of applications for these scheme considers the supply and demand in the area around the proposed projects and seeks to prioritise funding for areas with the biggest supply/demand mismatch.

Last week, I was pleased to announce details of the Building Blocks Extension Grant scheme. Under this scheme, funding may be provided to the following range of projects:

• Extensions to existing premises
• Installation of modular buildings or buildings built using modern methods of construction
• Purchase of early learning and childcare premises (for community services only)
• Purchase of premises that could be easily adapted for use as early learning and childcare premises (for community services only)
• Construction of building to house a new early learning and childcare service on ‘greenfield’ or ‘brownfield’ site (for community services only)

The Building Blocks Extension Grant scheme will provide funding to support services to deliver thousands more of affordable early learning and childcare places. This is the most significant capital investment in the sector since the establishment of my Department in 2011.

Additionally, I have established a new unit in my Department to undertake more detailed analysis of the nature and quantum of supply and demand for early learning and childcare across the country. This work will help to inform how best to support the delivery of provision in the years to come.

I am aware that many early learning and care services are reporting recruitment and retention difficulties. I have expressed continued commitment to improving conditions for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners. In a very competitive labour market and unemployment reported at 4.2% in June, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all, especially for low paid sectors.

I acknowledge that pay in the sector remains low and does not reflect the importance of the work carried out by early years educators and school age childcare practitioners. As the State does not employ staff in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services, I nor my Department cannot 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.

This process provided the first ever Employment Regulation Orders (ERO) for the sector in September 2022 and increased wages for over 70% of staff working in services.

Recently, Emer Higgins T.D., Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail accepted proposals for new EROs for the Early Years Services Sector. The Orders came into effect on 24 June 2024 and increased the minimum hourly rates of pay for all grades. In addition, the ERO removed the requirement for graduates to have 3 years’ experience before they are eligible for graduate minimum pay rates.

The new Early Years Services ERO will see an estimated 53% of Early Years Educators and School Age Practitioners benefit from the new minimum rates set.

Outcomes from the JLC process are support by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which will increase by 15% from September 2024, from €287 million in year 2 of the scheme to €331 million in year 3. This will see Government investment increase to more than €1.1 billion in early learning and childcare.

In line with commitments in First 5, in December 2021, I launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for ELC and SAC, 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills sets out a range of commitments to support the professional development of the workforce and raise the profile of careers in the sector. It seeks to address the range of issues that have an impact on recruitment and retention in early learning and care.

Complementing wider Departmental policies to improve pay and working conditions, to support recruitment and retention, and to streamline administration and regulation, I am committed to rolling out wellbeing supports for educators and practitioners and supports for early learning and childcare settings to enable more supportive working environments to be created for staff.

I also recently 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 has met on three occasions since December last year and held their fourth meeting on 4 July 2024.