Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

772. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will take steps to improve the working conditions of early years workers, recognising the valuable contribution they make to the lives of our youngest children and acknowledging the retention crisis facing the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65868/25]

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

First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their families, recognises that the Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Workforce is at the heart of high-quality early learning and care.

The role of the early years educator and school-age childcare practitioner are valuable ones and they play an important part in supporting children's development, learning and care. It is acknowledged that those working in the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector do not receive the recognition they deserve.

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.

Although the Government is the primary funder of the sector, it is not the employer and cannot directly set wages or conditions.

Improvement in pay is certainly key to improving recruitment and retention rates, as is the full implementation of Nurturing Skills.

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.

Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by Government through Core Funding. In this programme year 2025/26 Core Funding has increased by 6% to €350 million with an additional €45 million in ring-fenced Core Funding provided to support early learning and care services in meeting the increased cost of minimum pay rates in the sector.

As recently announced, the Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon has signed new Employment Regulation Orders for Early Years Educators and School-Age Practitioners.

The Orders commenced on 13th October 2025. They provide for an average of 10% increase to minimum hourly rates of pay. It is estimated that 67% of those working in the sector will see their wages increase as a result of the new minimum pay rates.

The Government remains committed to ‘continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators’ and to making available a similar sum in 2026 to support a further future round of pay improvements negotiations through the JLC process.

Staff in this sector play a key role in supporting children’s development and well-being. Recognising their central importance for the quality of provision, the Department continues to deliver on the workforce plan for the sector, Nurturing Skills.

Nurturing Skills aims to support the professional development of the workforce and sets out plans to raise the profile of careers in the sector, establish role profiles, career pathways, qualification requirements, along with leadership development opportunities.

To support the development of career pathways, the role profiles of educator, lead educator and manager, which were set out in Nurturing Skills, were given legal meaning when used as the basis for the Employment Regulations Orders for the sector. These Orders now embed a career structure by setting different rates of pay for the different role