Written answers
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Department of Children, Disability and Equality
Early Childhood Care and Education
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2307. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that Kerry has an early years staff turnover rate of 25%, above the national average; and the measures she intends to take to improve staff retention in the sector in rural counties like Kerry. [41365/25]
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2309. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports being provided to early childhood education providers in Kerry, to maintain a qualified and consistent workforce, in light of high turnover rates. [41367/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2307 and 2309 together.
In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all employers.
Data from the 2024 Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey shows the national turnover rate for the sector was approximately 25.8% and the turnover rate for County Kerry is slightly lower at 25.0%. It is worth noting that 28% of the national turnover rate reflects staff moving from one provider to another.
Pay is one of a number of issues impacting these staffing levels. However, 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 mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in law through Employment Regulation Orders.
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 year 2025/2026.
An additional €45 million has been ring-fenced to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation is conditional on updated Employment Regulation Orders.
Through the Joint Labour Committee process and supported through the Government’s Core Funding scheme, Employment Regulation Orders have been signed into law in September 2022 and June 2024 to progressively increase wage rates in the sector for staff at different grades. The associated increases in minimum rates of pay saw increases for over 70% and 52% of staff working with children in the sector.
In June 2025, new proposals for increases to minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners were put forward by the Joint Labour Committee members. A public consultation on these draft proposals is currently under way as provided for under the Industrial Relations Act 1946. These proposals are a welcome first step in the process of developing improved Employment Regulation Orders for the sector. The Programme for Government commits to continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators.
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.
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2308. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider aligning the pay and working conditions of early years and school age care graduates with those of primary school teachers; and if so, the timelines and mechanisms under review to achieve this. [41366/25]
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2310. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the role her Department has played in engaging with stakeholders (details supplied) in the lead-up to Budget 2026; and whether their recommendations on pay parity and staff retention are being considered. [41368/25]
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2311. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if his Department has costed the proposal to align pay for early years and school age care professionals with that of primary school teachers; and if so, the estimated annual cost of same. [41369/25]
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2323. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to introduce pay parity for early years and school age care graduates (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41411/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2308, 2310, 2311 and 2323 together.
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.
As the State is not the employer of staff in the sector, neither I nor my Department can set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector.
The Joint Labour Committee is the formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in Employment Regulation Orders.
I acknowledge the Joint Labour Committee is independent in its functions, and I do not have a role in its statutory negotiation processes. However, outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by Government through Core Funding, which in the programme year 2025/26 will increase by 6% to €350 million. An additional €45 million has been ring-fenced to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay and is contingent on updated Employment Regulation Orders.
Through the Joint Labour Committee process and supported through the Government’s Core Funding scheme, Employment Regulation Orders have been signed into law in September 2022 and June 2024 to progressively increase wage rates in the sector for staff at different grades. The associated increases in minimum rates of pay saw increases for over 70% and 52% of staff working with children in the sector.
In June 2025, new proposals for increases to minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners were put forward by the Joint Labour Committee members. A public consultation on these draft proposals is currently under way as provided for under the Industrial Relations Act 1946. These proposals are a welcome first step in the process of developing improved Employment Regulation Orders for the sector. The Programme for Government commits to continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators.
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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2312. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if additional resources will be allocated in Budget 2026 to support the staffing and sustainability of early years education services in rural counties such as Kerry. [41370/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2026 is currently being considered by Government in the context of the annual estimates process, which officials in my Department are actively engaging in. Therefore, the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage.
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, while Government is the primary funder of the sector, 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 mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in law through Employment Regulation Orders. 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 year 2025/2026.
An additional €45 million has been ring-fenced to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation is conditional on updated Employment Regulation Orders.
Through the Joint Labour Committee process and supported through the Government’s Core Funding scheme, Employment Regulation Orders have been signed into law in September 2022 and June 2024 to progressively increase wage rates in the sector for staff at different grades. The associated increases in minimum rates of pay saw increases for over 70% and 52% of staff working with children in the sector.
In June 2025, new proposals for increases to minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners were put forward by the Joint Labour Committee members. A public consultation on these draft proposals is currently under way as provided for under the Industrial Relations Act 1946. These proposals are a welcome first step in the process of developing improved Employment Regulation Orders for the sector. The Programme for Government commits to continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators.
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