Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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1165. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures that are in place to address the financial pressures and staff shortages currently being faced by the pre-school sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29243/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Investment in early learning and childcare is now at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating Government commitment to this area.

Core Funding is now worth €331 million for the current and third year of the scheme (September 2024 to August 2025). Targeted supports for small and sessional services in Year 2 of Core Funding were enhanced in Year 3. Specifically, the flat rate allocation was set at €5,000 (increased from €4,075 in Year 2) for sessional-only services, and the minimum base rate allocation was set at €14,000 (increased from €8,150 in Year 2).

Moreover, while the fee freeze continued in Year 3 for most services, and in response to concerns raised by some providers, there was also changes to fee management in Year 3, including:

• A fee increase process for certain providers

• A fee cap

Last week, I announced details of the Core Funding allocation model. Funding for the scheme in year 4, which commences in September, will exceed €390 million. The increased funding facilitates:

• support for providers in meeting the costs of increases in minimum pay rates as a result of newly negotiated Employment Regulation Orders by the independent Joint Labour Committee;
• Increased funding for early learning and care capacity offered to ensure Partner Services can keep pace with rising costs without needing to increase fees charged to parents;
• An increase to the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service will receive, increasing to €14,400 per year from the current level of €14,000 and
• Funding to support capacity growth of 3.5% across the sector.

Many early learning and care and school-age childcare services report difficulties in staff recruitment and retention. This is a challenge for many employers in the current tight labour market. Despite these challenges, the sector continues to grow year on year with the Annual Early Years Sector Profile reporting an increase of 8% in the workforce numbers over a 12-month period.

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. Of the funding available through Core Funding in year 4, €45 million has been ringfenced to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay conditional on updated Employment Regulation Orders.

My Department also 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.

A sub-group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum was established to discuss issues of recruitment and retention with stakeholders in the sector. This sub-group met throughout 2024 and continues to meet in 2025.

The general consensus of the group is that pay and conditions are a significant barrier for recruitment and retention, but the group continues to discuss possible short-term actions that may support recruitment and retention.

Complementing wider Departmental policies to improve pay and working conditions, to support recruitment and retention, and to streamline administration and regulation, Equal Start was launched in early 2024. Equal Start includes a commitment to roll out well-being supports for educators and practitioners and supports for early learning and care and school-age childcare settings to enable more supportive working environments to be created for staff.