Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
42. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the work her Department is undertaking to support professionalisation within the childcare sector, including measures to strengthen career pathways and workforce development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47463/26]
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.
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.
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
Another action from the plan currently under development is a communications campaign which will include a series of videos and information packs aimed at promoting the Early Learning and Care and School-age Childcare profession.
The packs 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 sector.
To further support staff retention and increase the number of degree level graduates in the sector, the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund was established and enables 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.
The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund demonstrates how Government is 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.
Aligned to the Programme for Government commitment to introduce an ‘Earn and Learn’ apprenticeship model enabling staff in this sector to gain qualifications and advance their careers, Pillar 4 of Nurturing Skills includes an action to examine the development of a range of entry routes into the sector, including apprenticeships or other work-based learning, and access programmes in further education and higher education. Research on alternative entry routes was received recently.
The Department is reviewing the research, with a view to using it to inform next steps. While Nurturing Skills commits to examine alternative entry-routes, the development of an apprenticeship would rely on the formulation of proposals by the sector and would require approval by the National Apprenticeship Office.
