Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 October 2020
234. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the way in which his Department plans to address high levels of staff turnover in the early years education sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30620/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am acutely aware that many services continue to report difficulties both recruiting and retaining qualified staff. The most recent data, from Pobal’s latest Early Years Sector Profile Report 2018/2019, indicates a staff turnover rate of 23% which, despite an improvement on the previous year, is unsustainably high. I have met with employee and employer representatives on a number of occasions and have listened to their concerns, including on staff turnover.
The key challenge to retaining staff is undoubtedly wages and working conditions. Low pay and poor working conditions in the sector remain a serious concern and impact on the quality of provision to children through their effect on the recruitment and retention of qualified staff. The most recent data indicates that the average hourly pay in early learning and care and school-age childcare was €12.55 in mid-2019.
As the State is not the employer, my Department does not pay the wages of staff working in early learning and care settings, and cannot set wage levels or determine working conditions for these staff to improve levels of staff retention. I am, however, doing all that is in my power to improve wages and working conditions in the sector. Recent measures that have been taken to assist employers to improve the pay and conditions of their staff whilst also addressing administrative demands include: a 7% increase in ECCE capitation in 2018; higher capitation payments for graduates and Inclusion Coordinators; support for school-age childcare which will make it easier to offer full-time, full-year employment contracts; and a pilot measure to fund participation in CPD.
My Department is currently working on a formulating a new funding model for the sector which may assist in improving pay, and therefore staff turnover in the sector. In addition, work is under way to develop a Workforce Development Plan, which will set out plans to raise the profile of careers in the sector and establish role profiles, career pathways, qualifications requirements, and associated policy mechanisms along with leadership development opportunities and working towards a more gender-balanced and diverse workforce.
I launched an extensive consultation on both the new funding model and the Workforce Development Plan on 19 August. The consultation process includes a call for submissions/survey, which ran from August to 2 October. Online consultation events are currently taking place from 12-22 October in evenings with those involved in the sector.
