Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
1032. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if additional supports will be granted to assist childcare and early learning centres unable to recruit staff (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12498/26]
View answerThe 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.
In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all employers.
Data from the 2025 Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey shows turnover in Kerry has fallen from 25.3% in 2023 to 24.7% in 2025. I should also note that new data shows the number of educators/practitioners working with children in Kerry has increased by over 10% for the same period.
However, it is acknowledged many early learning and childcare services report recruitment and retention challenges. In general, these challenges are not caused by insufficient supply of staff, but by high levels of turnover.
Although the Government is the primary funder of the sector, it is not the employer and cannot directly set wages or conditions.
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, and is independent in its functions.
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 approximately €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.
I recently announced, as part of launch of Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan in December, another allocation of up to €15m of ring-fenced funding from September 2026, which amounts up to €45m for the full programme year, to support service providers with costs associated with possible increases in minimum rates of pay negotiated via the independent Joint Labour Committee process. Consequently, over 2 years, the Department has made an allocation of €90 million available to support possible increased rates of pay.
In December 2023, a Sub-Group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum was established to address recruitment and retention challenges. The group has advanced initiatives including:
• A Student Fast-track Process for recognition of studies to work in service out of term.
• The assessment of unfinished qualifications, where people who may have started a relevant qualification but did not get to finish it, can have what they completed assessed for meeting qualification requirements.
• An agreement to promote careers in the sector.
To further support staff retention, the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund enables educators who continue to work within the sector to pursue Level 7 and 8 qualifications by funding over 90% of their tuition costs. Over 700 staff are now supported through the NSLF scheme.
The NSLF scheme demonstrates how we are already delivering on our Programme for Government commitment to ‘remove barriers in education and training for early years educators to broaden access to the profession.
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 Managers, 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. There is a commitment to roll out an employee assistance programme nationally in the future.
