Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 December 2015
30. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the efforts he is making to ensure the professionalisation of child care workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42689/15]
View answerMajor progress has been made in improving qualifications and supporting the professionalisation of the early years sector in the past 5 years. Prior to the introduction of the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) Programme in 2010, there was no minimum qualification for staff working in the early years sector. Under the ECCE programme, all pre-school leaders were required to hold a Level 5 qualification. In addition, ECCE services could qualify for a higher capitation rate where all the pre-school leaders, in the ECCE room, held a Level 7 qualification, and all the pre-school assistants held a Level 5 qualification. This represented a major step forward in improving the quality of early years services.
When the Early Years Quality Agenda was introduced in 2013, in order to further improve quality in pre-school services, one of the items to be progressed was the introduction of a requirement that all staff working with children in early years services should hold a qualification in early childhood care and education at a minimum of Level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) or equivalent and that pre-school leaders in ECCE services would be required to hold a minimum Level 6 qualification, or equivalent. These requirements will be fully introduced in 2016 following the publication of new Childcare Regulations.
In order to support existing staff to achieve these minimum qualifications, the Government introduced a Learner Fund. €3.5m has been provided under this Fund since 2014 and more than 3,000 staff have completed (or are currently completing training) to allow them to meet the minimum requirements.
These initiatives and this investment have resulted in significant increases in the number of ECCE services under contract to deliver the ECCE Programme who now meet higher capitation criteria.
- In 2010, a total of 3,787 ECCE services were under contract to deliver the ECCE Programme. Of these: 82.0% met the basic capitation criteria, and 11.0% met the higher capitation criteria.
- In 2015, a total of 4,371 ECCE services are under contract to deliver the ECCE Programme. Of these: 72.0% meet the basic capitation criteria, and 28.0% met the higher capitation criteria.
Additionally, according to the findings from the Annual Survey of Early Years Services undertaken by Pobal on my Department’s behalf, there have also been significant increases in the number of staff in early years services who hold a qualification equal to or higher than NFQ Level 5 over the same time period:
- In 2010, 71.4% of staff had a qualification equal to or higher than NFQ Level 5, and
- In 2014, 86.8% of staff had a qualification equal to or higher than NFQ Level 5.
Further funding to improve the qualifications and support the professionalisation of the early years sector was secured as part of Budget 2016. This includes:
- €1.5 million, which will be directed towards a Learner Fund in 2016. I will announce details of this Learner Fund shortly.
- €1.5 million, which will fund the delivery of a 'Higher Education Programme for Inclusion Co-ordinators in Early Years Settings' as part of the model of supports I recently announced to ensure children with a disability can access and meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme. This funding will meet the costs for the first intake of participants (up to 900 early years practitioners) who are expected to commence in this Programme in April 2016. It is envisaged that, over the next four years, at least 80 per cent of ECCE services will avail of this training fund, which will cost €1.5 million per annum.
In 2016, my Department will also continue to provide funding of €13 million for City and County Childcare Committees and National Voluntary Childcare Organisations to support the valuable work of these bodies in supporting early years’ services around the country, through training, continuing professional development programmes, networking and cluster-type support groups.
