Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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425. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the situation where those who qualified with a four-year BA degree in children’s studies from the University of Galway, are not currently certified to work in the childcare sector; and if he will investigate this matter given the need to increase the numbers of childcare workers in the system. [39754/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Under the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016, all staff working directly with children in a pre-school service must hold at least a Level 5 major award in early childhood care and education on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), or a qualification that has been deemed to be equivalent.

My Department has published a list of qualifications that meet the regulatory requirements for working in Early Learning Care in Ireland which are automatically approved for their respective recognised qualification level.

For Higher Educational Institutions seeking to have their Early Learning and Care degree programmes approved for inclusion on the Departments list of recognised qualifications for the Early Learning and Care sector they can submit an application to the Qualifications Advisory Board to have their programme assessed. The Qualifications Advisory Board is tasked with advising the Department whether a programme, once validated as a professional award, can be considered for inclusion on the Departments list of professional qualifications for the Early Learning and Care sector.

It should be noted however, that if an individual who has a qualification that does not appear on the Departments approved list, they can still apply to my Department to have their qualification assessed for approval.

To meet the minimum regulatory standard, a qualification must show that the holder of the qualification has completed studies, including the following three core areas, as part of their childcare qualification:

• Child Development 0-6 years• Early Childhood Education - Theory and Practice• Child Health and Welfare 0-6 years

In addition, a qualification must provide evidence of supervised practicum/practice placement working in an early learning and care setting with children of 0 to 6 age as part of the studies.