Childcare: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-23 ============================================================ Norma Foley (FF), Kerry I join in welcoming Deputy O'Connor's guests. I hope they find the debate beneficial in what we are seeking to find a pathway forward through, which is very important. It is about putting children at the centre of the country and the services we provide for them. I sincerely welcome the opportunity to speak with the House today on this very important motion. I thank my Fianna Fáil colleagues for putting forward this motion. I also thank everybody here in the Chamber who has contributed, of all persuasions and none, because this is something we share. We share a positivity and an absolute determination to deliver to the very best of our ability for young people. I have always said that if we can get it right for children, then we ultimately get it right for society. I appreciate that shared objective here in the House. The motion, as outlined, reflects a clear ambition I believe is shared among us all, which is that every child should have the opportunity to access high-quality early learning and childcare, and that every family should be able to afford those services. In addition, those who work in the sector should be valued and supported in the vital role they play in children's lives. The motion also recognises a very important reality. While there remain significant challenges across the sector, Ireland has made substantial progress in recent years. The debate we are having today is no longer about whether the State should play a major role in supporting early learning and childcare. That question has been answered very clearly and resolutely. However, the challenge now is how we continue to build, strengthen and improve the system that has emerged through unprecedented investment and reform in recent years. The foundation for that programme has been sustained Government investment. In recent years, public investment in early learning and childcare has increased to levels that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. Annual expenditure now exceeds €1.5 billion, reflecting a clear commitment by the Government to transform the sector and recognise early learning and childcare as an essential public service. This investment has been driven by a clear understanding of the benefits for every individual child, their parents and guardians, our society and our economy. High-quality early learning and childcare supports a child’s development, assists parents to participate in employment and education, contributes to social inclusion and strengthens the economic and social fabric of communities throughout the country. This has all been articulated already by the speakers at this point. Importantly, this investment has not been confined to any single programme or initiative. Rather, it has supported a strategic and integrated programme of reform which is improving affordability, accessibility, inclusion, quality and sustainability across the entire sector. The phase 1 report on Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan sets out measures to achieve key programme for Government commitments on the affordability, quality and accessibility of early learning and care and school-age childcare. Two of the main objectives of Shaping the Future are to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government and to increase the supply of places. This would strengthen funding to support services’ sustainability and staff wages, while also introducing State-led facilities to complement other measures to increase capacity. The action plan appoints a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer-term actions. The consultation process has been taking place throughout this year and will inform phase 2 of Shaping the Future. Phase 2 will be published this year and will set out actions to be undertaken from 2027 through to 2029. We have an action plan, and the final part of the consultation for that plan took place today. It was a summit gathering, if you like, of parents, providers, educators and children. We invited them to come to a town-hall type meeting to discuss their vision and their aspirations for the future. That is on the back of the previous consultations that have taken place throughout the year. More than 11,700 parents engaged in a public consultation. There was engagement with children, who, through art form, gave their thoughts and their views on the future of education. There was engagement with the providers. It has been a long-standing engagement for a year and that will inform the second and final phase of Shaping the Future. A key pillar of Government policy has been to improve affordability and access for families through the national childcare scheme and the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. Through a series of enhancements, substantial reductions in out-of-pocket costs have been delivered for many families. Parents and guardians of 277,000 children throughout the country are benefiting from increased national childcare scheme subsidies in 2026. The scheme continues to support participation in employment, education and training while helping families manage the cost-of-living pressures that many households have experienced in recent years. That point about the importance of ensuring there are opportunities to support people who need or wish to go out to work has been made by all of the Senators here. These improvements matter because early learning and childcare costs have a direct impact on family decisions. They influence, as we said, whether parents, in particular, as has been referenced, mothers, can return to or remain in work, whether they must reduce, maintain or increase working hours and whether they can pursue education and training opportunities. By reducing childcare costs, we are not only supporting families financially but also creating opportunities that strengthen participation in society and the economy, as Senator O'Loughlin referenced quite significantly. Alongside the national childcare scheme, the ECCE programme continues to provide universal access to high-quality preschool education. This year, over 105,000 children will benefit from two years of the ECCE programme participation, giving them opportunities to develop key social, emotional and learning skills through a critical stage of their development. The programme is one of the most successful social investments made by the State, ensuring that all children, regardless of their background, have access to high-quality early learning experiences before beginning primary school. While considerable progress has been made through these programmes, the Government recognises that affordability remains an important issue for many families. That is why we remain committed to continuing the work of reducing costs and supporting participation while maintaining the sustainability and quality of services. Alongside universal supports, the Government is also committed to ensuring that children who face disadvantage receive the support necessary to access and benefit from early learning and childcare opportunities. The award-winning access and inclusion model, AIM, is supporting up to 9,000 children with a disability to access the ECCE programme. AIM has now expanded beyond the ECCE programme, where ECCE children are benefiting from AIM support outside the ECCE programme hours, both in term and out. The equal start model represents another important development in this regard. At its core, equal start reflects a commitment to ensuring that the benefits of early learning and childcare are available to all children, irrespective of background or circumstance. Equal start seeks to address those challenges that may be faced by families through targeted support and intervention, helping services to respond more effectively to disadvantage and ensuring that children who stand to benefit most from participation are supported to do so. In doing so, the equal start model supports not only inclusion but also equality of opportunity. It reflects a belief that every child deserves the chance to thrive and that early intervention can play a transformative role in children's lives. Central to the success of the Government's reform programme has been the introduction of core funding. Core funding represents one of the most significant changes ever made to the funding model for the sector. Through this scheme, the State is providing direct and sustained support to providers in a way that strengthens their sustainability, supports affordability for families through fee management measures, and supports quality services through better terms, conditions and professional development for staff. Core funding has grown by 86% since its introduction to over €482 million in its fifth year and latest data shows over 4,600 providers, or more than 91%, are now participating in this fifth year of the scheme. For many providers, core funding has brought greater certainty and stability, enabling them to continue delivering services while responding to increasing costs and growing demand. It has also strengthened the partnership between the State and providers in delivering public policy objectives. The importance of core funding extends beyond financial sustainability. It has established the platform upon which the interconnected reforms of affordability, quality and workforce development are delivered. No discussion of the future of the sector would be complete without recognising the absolute importance of the workforce. The quality of children's experiences within early learning and childcare settings is fundamentally linked to the dedication, professionalism and expertise of the excellent staff who work with them in settings right across the country. Early years educators, managers, school-age childcare practitioners, providers and childminders make an extraordinary contribution to the lives, and to the development and well-being of our children. Historically, the contribution made by the workforce was not always adequately recognised. The Government has, therefore, placed a significant emphasis on workplace development and professionalisation. Through the nurturing skills workforce plan and a range of workforce supports, significant progress has been made in strengthening qualifications, professional development opportunities and career pathways across the sector. Moreover, the independent joint labour committee is now proposing increases of over 6% to the minimum rates of all roles in the sector. This is building on substantial progress made in pay through three consecutive employment regulation orders, EROs, in the last four years negotiated by the committee - all supported by the Government's core funding scheme. In fact, €45 million was made available this year specifically for the ERO and a further €45 million the previous year, comprising €90 million specifically made available to boost supports for the workforce. If these new rates of pay as outlined are commenced, the minimum hourly rate of pay for an early years educator will have increased from €10.50 to €16, with similar increases across other roles in the sector, including lead educators, deputy managers and managers. The workforce remains central to every ambition we hold for the future of early learning and childcare. If we are to improve quality, increase capacity and expand access, we must continue to attract and retain talented professionals within the sector. I am committed to ensuring that we do that and support it going forward. The motion also references one of the most significant challenges facing the sector, namely, capacity. While many families are successfully accessing services, there remain areas where demand exceeds supply and where additional places are required. That has been referenced here by the House. Population growth, demographic change and housing development have increased demand in many communities, thereby creating pressures that require careful planning and sustained investment. As new communities are being developed and as new schools and public facilities are planned, it is important that early learning and childcare services are considered from the outset. Families benefit when services are planned in an integrated way and when early learning and childcare forms part of the essential infrastructure of growing communities. The Government is committed to working across Departments and agencies to ensure that capacity expansion remains a central element of future policy development. An important part of that future capacity will be delivered through childminders. Childminders have always played a valuable role in supporting families and providing flexible forms of early learning and childcare in communities throughout Ireland. Recognising this important contribution, the Government has undertaken significant work to support the development of the childminding sector. The national action plan for childminding is helping to bring greater recognition and support to childminders while creating pathways for participation in regulatory and support structures. Notwithstanding the progress that has been made in all of the areas outlined, it is important to acknowledge, as always, that challenges remain. Affordability remains a concern for many families despite the improvements delivered through the recent subsidy increases. Workforce recruitment and retention continue to present difficulties for many services and capacity constraints remain evident in some communities. The Government neither underestimates these challenges nor wishes to suggest that there are simple solutions to complex issues. However, it is equally important that we recognise the progress achieved and the strong foundations that have been established. We now have a level of investment that would have been considered impossible only a few years ago. We have a long-term strategic framework through Shaping the Future, First 5 and Nurturing Skills. We have strengthened supports for families through the ECCE programme and the national childcare scheme, targeted disadvantage and inclusion through AIM and equal start, enhanced sustainability and workforce development through core funding and established a clear pathway for further development of capacity and the regulation of childminding. The task before us now is to build upon these achievements. I, therefore, welcome the motion before the House. It recognises the progress that has been achieved, acknowledges the challenges and opportunities that remain and sets out a constructive direction for future reform and I am pleased to support its objectives. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues across Government and across this House to strengthen early learning and childcare for children and families throughout Ireland. I am absolutely committed to prioritising further investment through the 2027 Estimates for that purpose. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-23