Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

965. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to outline the supports being provided to people working in early years and afterschool care services to ensure fair pay and working conditions and encourage people to maintain and take up new employment in this sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23553/25]

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

Pay is one of a number of issues impacting the early learning and care and school-age childcare workforce. The level of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners does not reflect the value of their work for children, families, society and the economy.

However, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set pay or working conditions.

The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates for the sector.

Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by Government through Core Funding, which has seen its allocation increase from €259 million in year 1 to €350 million for the coming programme year 2025/2026.

An additional €45 million has been ringfenced in the coming programme year to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay conditional on updated Employment Regulation Orders.

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 early learning and care and school-age childcare 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.

I recently published the Annual Monitoring Report on the Implementation of Nurturing Skills, 2024 which outline all the key workforce actions delivered in 2024.