Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
1024. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports available to childcare providers in County Kerry experiencing staffing shortages; the measures being taken to improve recruitment and retention in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39953/26]
View answerI believe the roles of the early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners are valuable ones, and they play an important part in supporting children's development, learning and care.
In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all employers.
The current Annual Early Years Sector Profile data shows positive signs in relation to the number of educators/practitioners working with children in the sector which has increased by over 8% between 2024 and 2025 and has increased by over 33% since 2022. In Kerry the number of staff working with children has increased by over 25% since 2022.
However, I do acknowledged that many early learning and childcare services report recruitment and retention issues but, in general, these challenges are not caused by insufficient supply of staff, but by high levels of turnover mainly due to low pay and conditions.
Although the Government is the primary funder of the sector, it is not the employer and cannot directly set wages or conditions. However, to support providers with staff costs, the department has made €45 million in ring-fenced Core Funding available. The dispersal of this funding is through the Joint Labour Committee, which is the formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates. These are set down in Employment Regulation Orders, and the JLC 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 to approximately €350 million with the additional €45 million provided to support early learning and care services in meeting the increased cost of minimum pay rates in the sector.
I recently announced, another allocation 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.
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.
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, which is currently open for student for the summer months.
• 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.
A communications campaign is currently under development and will include a series of videos aimed at promoting careers in the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare sector.
In addition, a careers information pack is being developed to support promotion of the sector. The pack will be provided to career guidance counsellors and other key bodies who support individuals in making education and employment decisions, with the aim of raising awareness of career opportunities and pathways within Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare.
To further support staff retention, the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund was established to enable educators who continue to work within the sector to pursue Level 7 and 8 qualifications by funding up to 90% of their tuition costs. Over 700 staff are now supported through the Nurturing Stills Learner Fund and I will be supporting another new cohort of staff to commence their studies in September this year.
The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund 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.
