Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

365. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to increase the number of early years education places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8314/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.

Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. An annual sector profile demonstrates an 8% increase in enrolments between 2021/22 and 2022/23. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 2 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by almost 8%. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase in the numbers of registered early learning and childcare services in 2024. However, it appears that demand for Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare remains higher than available supply, particularly for younger children and in certain parts of the country.

Demand for early learning and childcare beyond sessional pre-school provision is highly elastic and shaped very substantially by families' individual composition, circumstances, and preferences; employment patterns and income; and the price and availability of services.

Last year, a Supply Management Unit within the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Division was established, and the Programme for Government articulates an intention that the unit be resourced and transformed into a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit to identify areas of need, forecast demand, and deliver public supply within the childcare sector where required.

A forward planning model is in development which will be central to my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.

My Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core Funding, which is in its third programme year, funds services based on the number of places available, whether or not they are filled.

This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service. For the current programme year, the allocation for Core Funding would be able to capture almost a 6% increase in capacity. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase from September 2025, in the fourth programme year.

The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on the 4th of November 2024. Applications for this scheme have now closed and an appraisal process has begun. The primary focus of the Extension Grant Scheme is to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care.

Appraisal of applications for this scheme will consider the supply and demand in the area around the proposed projects and seeks to prioritise funding for areas with the biggest supply/demand mismatch. €25m will be made available this year to deliver additional capacity under the Scheme and I expect to announce the outcome of the application process in March.

My Department funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees, which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country are in a position to assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance. Contact details for City/County Childcare Committees may be found at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/52b71-support-for-parents-city-and-county-childcare-committees

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

366. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to attract and retain more early years educators, as per the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8313/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all employers, especially in low-paid sectors.

The most recently published Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey data shows staff turnover for the sector is at 24.5%, however it is estimated that approximately 1/3 of staff leaving services are doing so to move to another service. Also, the data from that survey also shows that the workforce in the sector continues to grow, increasing by 8% over a 12-month period.

Pay is one of a number of issues impacting these staffing levels. As the State is not the employer of staff in the sector, my Department cannot set wage levels or determine working conditions.

There is however a formal mechanism established, in the independent Early Years Services Joint Labour Committee, where employer and employee representatives can negotiate terms and conditions of employment including minimum pay rates for different roles in the sector.

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 €15 million was secured specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on updated Employment Regulation Orders being negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee, translates into a full year allocation of €45 million for programme year 2025/2026.

The Programme for Government commits the Government to make further progress in this area, specifically through support additional Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain staff.

My Department continues to implement, 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 ELC and SAC and to raise the profile of careers in the sector. It includes a career framework and commitments to support early years educators to upskill and develop their careers. It also includes commitments to reduce staff turnover, to attract graduates to enter and remain in the sector along with actions to actively promote careers in early learning and care and school-age childcare sector.