Written answers
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Early Childhood Care and Education
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
196. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the average annual staff turnover rate in early learning and care services from 2022 to 2023, nationally and on a county basis, in tabular form. [6672/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set wage rates or working conditions.
The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates for early learning and care services, which are set down in law through Employment Regulation Orders.
Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year (2024/2025) of €331 million. In Budget 2025, an additional €15m was secured specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on Employment Regulation Orders being negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee, translates into full year costs of €45 million for programme year 2025/2026.
A longer-term workforce strategy for the sector is in place: "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028". Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. One of the five "pillars" of Nurturing Skills comprises commitments aimed at supporting recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector.
The 2022/2023 Annual Early Years Sector Profile reported an increase in the number of services (contracted to a state scheme) from 4,435 (in 2021/2022) to 4,483 and an increase in sector staff from 34,357 (2021/2022) to 37,060. The below tables show average staff turnover rates for early learning and care services for the programme years 2021/22 and 2022/2023, nationally and by county.
The data relates to both early learning and care and school age childcare because of the large number of services that provide both early learning and care and school age childcare.
| Average staff turnover rate – national data | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| National | 24.7% | 24.5% |
| Average staff turnover rate – county data | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 25.4% | 28.6% |
| Cavan | 19.8% | 18.3% |
| Clare | 22.3% | 20.5% |
| Cork City | 31.6% | 33.0% |
| Cork County | 24.9% | 22.8% |
| Donegal | 17.8% | 18.2% |
| Dublin - Dublin City | 31.4% | 32.4% |
| Dublin - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | 34.1% | 37.9% |
| Dublin - Fingal | 30.4% | 30.8% |
| Dublin - South Dublin | 26.3% | 30.0% |
| Galway | 30.4% | 21.6% |
| Kerry | 25.2% | 25.3% |
| Kildare | 22.4% | 22.9% |
| Kilkenny | 20.5% | 20.5% |
| Laois | 33.0% | 20.9% |
| Leitrim | 19.5% | 27.6% |
| Limerick | 21.3% | 20.0% |
| Longford | 21.5% | 17.2% |
| Louth | 19.2% | 22.4% |
| Mayo | 24.0% | 20.0% |
| Meath | 21.5% | 21.5% |
| Monaghan | 17.4% | 18.2% |
| Offaly | 20.4% | 20.0% |
| Roscommon | 22.5% | 16.4% |
| Sligo | 19.8% | 22.8% |
| Tipperary | 19.3% | 23.8% |
| Waterford | 16.5% | 17.7% |
| Westmeath | 16.9% | 18.5% |
| Wexford | 16.4% | 18.9% |
| Wicklow | 22.5% | 26.5% |
- The data is based on responses to the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Annual Early Years Sector Profile surveys which had overall response rates of 82.4% and 88.6% respectively.
- The turnover rate is calculated by dividing the number of staff that left the service in the previous 12 months by the total number of staff and expressed as a percentage. If the sum of vacancies and staff that worked in a service less than one year is greater than the number of staff that left in the last 12 months, the number of staff who left the service in the last 12 months is substituted in this calculation by the number of staff that worked in the service for less than one year. This substitution is made to differentiate between staff turnover and expansion. The turnover rate is calculated only for staff working with children.
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
197. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the average annual staff turnover rate in large, private early learning and care services from 2022 to 2023, nationally and on a county basis, in tabular form. [6673/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set wage rates or working conditions.
The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates for early learning and care services, which are set down in law through Employment Regulation Orders.
Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year (2024/2025) of €331 million. In Budget 2025, an additional €15m was secured specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on Employment Regulation Orders being negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee, translates into full year costs of €45 million for programme year 2025/2026.
A longer-term workforce strategy for the sector is in place: "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028". Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. One of the five "pillars" of Nurturing Skills comprises commitments aimed at supporting recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector.
The 2022/2023 Annual Early Years Sector Profile reported an increase in the number of services (contracted to a state scheme) from 4,435 (in 2021/2022) to 4,483 and an increase in sector staff from 34,357 (2021/2022) to 37,060. The below tables show average staff turnover rates for large private early learning and care services for the programme years 2021/22 and 2022/2023, nationally and by county, according to responses to the Annual Early Years Sector Profile reports.
A service with a capacity of 100 or more children is classified as large. The data relates to both early learning and care and school age childcare because of the large number of services that provide both early learning and care and school age childcare.
| Average staff turnover rate in large private services – national data | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| National | 37.2% | 31.4% |
| Average staff turnover rate in large private services – county data | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 25.0% | 54.2% |
| Cavan | 13.3% | 8.2% |
| Clare | 25.0% | 0.0% |
| Cork City | 37.0% | 33.9% |
| Cork County | 24.2% | 18.8% |
| Donegal | 14.6% | 18.6% |
| Dublin - Dublin City | 32.4% | 40.9% |
| Dublin - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | 62.2% | 43.5% |
| Dublin - Fingal | 49.2% | 40.7% |
| Dublin - South Dublin | 36.7% | 45.2% |
| Galway | 74.9% | 21.3% |
| Kerry | 12.5% | 22.5% |
| Kildare | 47.0% | 36.2% |
| Kilkenny | 20.1% | |
| Laois | 30.9% | 36.6% |
| Leitrim | 18.2% | |
| Limerick | 24.9% | 24.8% |
| Longford | 35.3% | |
| Louth | 6.7% | 5.2% |
| Mayo | 31.6% | 45.5% |
| Meath | 31.6% | 29.1% |
| Monaghan | 14.3% | 13.7% |
| Offaly | 32.8% | 26.8% |
| Roscommon | 28.1% | 23.7% |
| Sligo | 29.7% | 22.2% |
| Tipperary | 33.6% | 20.9% |
| Waterford | 23.3% | 23.5% |
| Westmeath | 35.7% | 31.0% |
| Wexford | 29.2% | |
| Wicklow | 73.5% | 53.8% |
- In 2021/22 no large private services in Kilkenny, Leitrim or Longford responded to the AEYSP survey
- In 2022/23 no large private services in Wexford responded to the AEYSP survey
- The data is based on responses to the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Annual Early Years Sector Profile surveys which had overall response rates of 82.4% and 88.6% respectively.
- The turnover rate is calculated by dividing the number of staff that left the service in the previous 12 months by the total number of staff and expressed as a percentage. If the sum of vacancies and staff that worked in a service less than one year is greater than the number of staff that left in the last 12 months, the number of staff who left the service in the last 12 months is substituted in this calculation by the number of staff that worked in the service for less than one year. This substitution is made to differentiate between staff turnover and expansion. The turnover rate is calculated only for staff working with children.
- Service size is assessed based on the number of unique children registered under at least one DCEDIY programme/scheme in a service on 1 June 2022 (2021/22 data) and 1 June 2023 (2022/23 data). Services with less than 50 children are classified as small, a service with 50–99 children is classified as medium and a service with a capacity of 100 or more children is classified as large.
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
198. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the average annual staff turnover rate in large, community early learning and care services from 2022 to 2023, nationally and on a county basis, in tabular form. [6674/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set wage rates or working conditions.
The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates for early learning and care services, which are set down in law through Employment Regulation Orders.
Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year (2024/2025) of €331 million. In Budget 2025, an additional €15m was secured specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on Employment Regulation Orders being negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee, translates into full year costs of €45 million for programme year 2025/2026.
A longer-term workforce strategy for the sector is in place: "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028". Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. One of the five "pillars" of Nurturing Skills comprises commitments aimed at supporting recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector.
The 2022/2023 Annual Early Years Sector Profile reported an increase in the number of services (contracted to a state scheme) from 4,435 (in 2021/2022) to 4,483 and an increase in sector staff from 34,357 (2021/2022) to 37,060. The below tables show average staff turnover rates for large community early learning and care services for the programme years 2021/22 and 2022/2023, nationally and by county, according to responses to the Annual Early Years Sector Profile reports.
A service with a capacity of 100 or more children is classified as large. The data relates to both early learning and care and school age childcare because of the large number of services that provide both early learning and care and school age childcare.
| Average staff turnover rate in large community settings – national data | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| National | 17.7% | 15.0% |
| Average staff turnover rate in large community settings – county data | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 14.6% | 18.7% |
| Cavan | 14.0% | 15.6% |
| Clare | 10.7% | 18.3% |
| Cork City | 28.6% | 5.6% |
| Cork County | 18.0% | 17.0% |
| Donegal | 25.0% | 6.1% |
| Dublin - Dublin City | 23.3% | 27.1% |
| Dublin - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | 50.0% | 42.4% |
| Dublin - South Dublin | 20.0% | 6.7% |
| Galway | 19.6% | 12.4% |
| Kerry | 15.0% | 20.4% |
| Kildare | 11.7% | |
| Kilkenny | 24.6% | 15.1% |
| Laois | 10.0% | 7.9% |
| Leitrim | 0.0% | |
| Limerick | 14.3% | 11.4% |
| Longford | 11.5% | 20.8% |
| Louth | 21.7% | 0.0% |
| Meath | 15.4% | 18.0% |
| Monaghan | 10.9% | 11.2% |
| Offaly | 13.0% | 4.8% |
| Sligo | 27.9% | 15.1% |
| Tipperary | 22.2% | 15.6% |
| Waterford | 9.5% | 12.4% |
| Westmeath | 25.0% | 12.0% |
| Wexford | 14.6% | 14.1% |
- In 2021/22 no large community services in Kildare and Leitrim responded to the AEYSP survey
- The data is based on responses to the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Annual Early Years Sector Profile surveys which had overall response rates of 82.4% and 88.6% respectively.
- The turnover rate is calculated by dividing the number of staff that left the service in the previous 12 months by the total number of staff and expressed as a percentage. If the sum of vacancies and staff that worked in a service less than one year is greater than the number of staff that left in the last 12 months, the number of staff who left the service in the last 12 months is substituted in this calculation by the number of staff that worked in the service for less than one year. This substitution is made to differentiate between staff turnover and expansion. The turnover rate is calculated only for staff working with children.
- Service size is assessed based on the number of unique children registered under at least one DCEDIY programme/scheme in a service on 1 June 2022 (2021/22 data) and 1 June 2023 (2022/23 data). Services with less than 50 children are classified as small, a service with 50–99 children is classified as medium and a service with a capacity of 100 or more children is classified as large.
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
199. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total number of early learning and care services with a staff vacancy; the total number of staff vacancies in 2022 and 2023; and the total number of unfilled child places resulting from these staff vacancies. [6675/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Staff who work in early learning and care settings fundamentally shape children’s experiences and are the primary drivers of quality. Recruiting and retaining appropriately qualified staff in early learning and care is also a key determinant of supply; qualifications of staff and the ratio of staff to children are stipulated by regulatory requirements and therefore the recruitment and retention of staff shapes the volume and nature of early learning and care places available. Staff vacancies therefore can constrain the delivery of early learning and childcare places.
The main source of data about staff vacancies is the Annual Early Years Sector Profile reports, which are based on answers received in April/May (towards the end of a given programme year). Within the survey, the question: 'How many staff vacancies do you currently have in your service?' gives rise to two figures: the first being how many services respond yes and the second how many vacancies they report.
The 2022/2023 Annual Early Years Sector Profile reported an increase in the number of services (contracted to a state scheme) from 4,435 (in 2021/2022) to 4,483 and an increase in sector staff from 34,357 (2021/2022) to 37,060.
The below table sets out the number of early learning and care and school age childcare services that reported having a vacancy, as well as the total number of staff vacancies reported for programme years 2021/22 and 2022/23. The table also shows the year on year increase in both services and staff in the sector. The data relates to both early learning and care and school age childcare because of the large number of services that provide both types of services.
| - | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| Total services with a staff vacancy (est.) | 1,339 | 1,406 |
| Total number of staff vacancies (est.) | 2,653 | 2,678 |
| Total Number of Sector Staff | 34,357 | 37,060 |
| Total number of Services (contracted to a state scheme) | 4,435 | 4,483 |
- The data is based on responses to the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Annual Early Years Sector Profile surveys which had overall response rates of 82.4% and 88.6% respectively.
- The figures in the table are extrapolations, based on response rates to the survey.
- The data is based on services reporting vacancies at time of completing the survey.
In parallel, my Department is developing its capacity for monitoring, analysing and forecasting supply and demand for early learning and care and is developing a forward planning model to assist in identifying where unmet need/demand and areas of low supply exist.
A longer-term workforce strategy for the sector is in place: "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028". Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. One of the five "pillars" of Nurturing Skills comprises commitments aimed at supporting recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector.
Pay is one of a number of issues impacting staffing levels. The State is not the employer of staff in the sector and neither I nor my Department set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector. However, there is now, through the independent Joint Labour Committee 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 early learning and care and school-age childcare services. Over the past two years, this process has seen two increases in minimum rates of pay for roles in the sector and positively impacting over 70% and 50% of the workforce respectively.
Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year (2024/2025) of €331 million. In Budget 2025, an additional funding was secured specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on an Employment Regulation Order being negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee, translates into full year costs of €45 million for programme year 2025/2026.
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