Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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841. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the development of a national early learning and childcare agency; the actions her Department has taken to date to set up the agency; the further actions her Department plans to take; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17456/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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On 29 March 2022 Government accepted the findings of the independent Review of the Early Learning and Childcare Operating Model in Ireland that a dedicated state agency is the optimal operating model for the Early Learning Care and School Age Childcare sector for the years ahead. It is envisaged that the agency will undertake the functions currently undertaken by Pobal Early Years (including Better Start), the City/County Childcare Committees, as well as operational functions currently undertaken by the Department.

The Department has commenced an initial design and planning phase for the establishment of the agency. In December 2023, the Department contracted Indecon Economic Consultants to carry out a phase of research, analysis and stakeholder engagement to inform the design of the agency. This will include an assessment in respect of the functions to be carried out by the agency. This phase is anticipated to take 12-18 months, and will be followed by a more detailed design and costing phase which will be informed by the outputs of the initial phase and by ongoing consultations with stakeholders.

A Programme Oversight Board has been established to oversee the project. The current phase of work centres on five workstreams, which involve the identification of the functions; mapping the existing workforce; identifying options for staffing and structures required for the new agency; setting out options for an optimal model of operating/service delivery, including local, regional and national structures; examination and assessment of the role of community and voluntary organisations in other sectors nationally and in the early learning and childcare sector in other jurisdictions.

Draft reports for workstream related to the functions, the workforce and role of the community and voluntary sector have been submitted to the Programme Oversight Board and are currently being examined. It is anticipated that the remaining workstream reports will be submitted in the first half of 2025 with a final composite report expected to be completed in quarter three of 2025.

In December 2023 the first of a series of stakeholder consultation sessions commenced in relation to the vision, mission and values of the agency. It was attended by stakeholder representatives from across the Early Learning Care and School Age Childcare sector. Consultation events also took place in May/June 2024 with the focus on function mapping across the current operating model. The most recent consultation sessions in October 2024 were focused on the mapping of the workforce across the operating model. Engagement with a wide range of stakeholders will continue as a key feature of this reform programme.

The second phase of the project relates to a more in-depth design and costing exercise to take place from late 2025 and is scheduled to take an estimated 6-9 months. The work will culminate in a costed agency design, including the remit, organisational structure and service delivery model, which will be presented to Government for approval.