Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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2488. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has engaged with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on ensuring that enough early years educators are trained and qualified to meet the need for early years education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43608/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their families, recognises that the workforce is at the heart of high-quality early learning and care. The evidence suggests that children achieve better outcomes when staff are well-qualified. This is undisputed internationally.

Nurturing Skills, The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028, seeks to continue to build on commitments in First 5 to develop an appropriately skilled and sustainable professional workforce, and includes a commitment and actions to achieve a graduate-led workforce by 2028.

Significant progress has been made in this regard, as confirmed in the Nurturing Skills Annual Report for 2024. Between 2019 and 2023, the total number of staff in Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare services has risen from 30,776 to 37,060 (representing an increase of 20%). During the same timeframe, the proportion of Early Learning and Care staff with a graduate degree (Level 7 and above) has increased from 25% to 39%.

To further support the objective of developing a graduate-led workforce, the new Nurturing Skills Learner Fund was launched in December 2023. The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund covers up to 90% of the fees incurred by early years educators studying for Early Learning and Care qualifications at Level 7 and Level 8 that have been approved by the Qualifications Advisory Board, while continuing to work in the Early Learning and Care sector. Fees are paid directly to the educational institutions on behalf of successful applicants.

For the academic year 2024/2025, the first year of the scheme, support was offered to 350 educators. The scheme continues for the academic year 2025/2026 and a further 365 applicants were offered Nurturing Skills Learning Fund support for their studies. I am committed to growing the number of graduates in the sector and achieving our aim of a graduate-led workforce.

The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund (NSLF) is co-funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund+ and by the Government of Ireland through the Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training programme (EIST) 2021-27. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) is the Managing Authority for the European Social Fund+ in Ireland, therefore there is regular contact at official level between the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and DFHERIS in this regard.

Under the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016, all staff working directly with children in a pre-school service must hold at least a Level 5 major award in early childhood care and education on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), or a qualification that the Minister has deemed to be equivalent.

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has published a list of qualifications that meet both regulatory and funding requirements for working in early learning and care services, which can be consulted here: www.assets.gov.ie/static/documents/dcediy-early-years-recognised-qualifications-september-2024.pdf

Qualification award standards for undergraduate courses in Early Learning and Care at NFQ Levels 5, 6, 7 or 8 are provided through the Early Learning and Care annotated Professional Award Type Descriptors (www.assets.gov.ie/static/documents/dcediy-early-years-recognised-qualifications-september-2024.pdf) and ELC-specific Professional Award Criteria and Guidelines ( www.gov.ie/en/collection/d6685-professional-award-criteria-and-guidelines/). Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and the Qualifications Advisory Board (QAB) assess and monitor the adherence of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) programmes at NFQ Levels 5-8 to these professional award criteria.

Notes:

The 2024 Annual Monitoring Report on the Implementation of Nurturing Skills 2024 can be viewed here: www.nurturingskills.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2024-Annual_Monitoring_Report_on_the_Implementation_of_Nurturing_Skills_2024.pdf

The can be viewed here: www.qqi.ie/sites/default/files/media/file-uploads/Professional%20Award%20Type%20Descriptors%20at%20NFQ%20Levels%205-8%20%28Annotated%20for%20QQI%20ELC%20Awards%29.pdf

The ELC-specific Professional Award Criteria and Guidelines can be viewed here: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/professional-award-criteria-and-guidelines-for-initial-professional-education-level-7-.pdf .

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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2489. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department keeps statistics on the opening and closure of early years education and childcare settings; and if she will provide these figures broken down monthly, by local authority, and by capacity, for the past three years, in tabular form. [43609/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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2490. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of Irish-medium early years services in operation, by local authority and capacity, in tabular form. [43610/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy in due course.