Written answers

Thursday, 24 October 2024

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Early Childhood Care and Education

Photo of Neasa HouriganNeasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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44. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he can share either domestic or international indicators on the State’s performance in the area of childcare; how the State’s position has improved on the affordability of childcare versus other countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43342/24]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department draws on a wide range of Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare data, both domestic and international, to inform policy development, implementation and evaluation. These data are also used to measure the State’s progress, year on year, in the delivery of high quality, affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare. In terms of annual investment in this key area, my Department secured a €1 billion budget allocation in 2023, 5 years ahead of the First 5 2028 target. The budget allocation I secured for 2025 will provide €1.37 billion, which represents an additional investment of €266m, or 24% when compared with 2024, and which will provide improved affordability for parents, facilitate capacity growth within the sector, and ensure additional supports for children and families who are experiencing disadvantage.

Increased investment in recent years has helped to achieve significant progress in improving the affordability of childcare for families in Ireland. The NCS universal subsidy was increased from €0.50 to €1.40 in January 2023 and further increased to €2.14 in September 2024. The fee cap in place since 2022 due to Core Funding ensures that families experience the full benefit of these changes.

My Department also publishes a range of output, outcome and Equality Budgeting indicators in the area of childcare in the annual Revised Estimates Volume, published on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. These include targets for the numbers of children and services supported through government funded supports and subsidy schemes as well as monitoring outcomes related to employment and engagement with formal childcare. In recent years, these indicators show increasing numbers of services contracted to DCEDIY schemes, a higher proportion of staff in Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare settings with a relevant degree, and greater numbers of children receiving supports and subsidies through government funded schemes.

There are a number of sources of international comparative indicators for early childhood education and care. In particular, the European Commission’s structural indicators for monitoring education and training systems in Europe – 2024: Early childhood education and care report is due to be published in November and will assess some of the main aspects regarding the right to affordable early childhood education and care across European countries. Officials in my Department are currently working with the OECD to determine our progress on affordability. However, given the very different sectors and contexts across different jurisdictions, it is important to take care when interpreting international comparisons. Early learning and care provision varies greatly across countries and the criteria applied to compare countries do not always reflect the full picture of performance at the national level. For example, children in Ireland commonly start school before the compulsory school age of six whereas school starting age tends to be higher among our European counterparts. This means that any indicator based on compulsory school age (e.g. participation rates) will not be directly comparable.

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