DCEDIY Press release: New Early Learning and Childcare Data website launched by Minister O’Gorman

Press release

New Early Learning and Childcare Data website launched by Minister O’Gorman

From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

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• New website with a series of interactive dashboards presenting data about the early learning and childcare sector

• Allows key data on the early learning and childcare sector to be filtered by a range of variables including county and provider type

• First two interactive dashboards – Overview of Service Providers and Capacity – now available

• Replaces the the ‘Annual Early Years Sector Profile report’ with an easy to use, accessible and innovative dashboard that helps to improve user experience

Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth today launched the Early Learning and Childcare Data website. This new website will include a series of interactive dashboards that will be released by Pobal on behalf of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) over the coming weeks and months. The first two interactive dashboards – ‘Overview of Service Providers’ and ‘Capacity’ – are released today.

The Early Learning and Childcare Data website provides a new and innovative way of displaying administrative data as well as survey data collected annually from over 4,400 early learning and childcare services across the country, supporting evidence-informed policy development and planning.

 

The full suite of interactive dashboards, will be available on the Pobal website over the coming weeks and months (www.pobal.ie ). The dashboards will include data that were previously published in the Annual Early Years Sector Profile report such as the number of services and children participating in DCEDIY funding programmes and schemes, fees data and workforce data on wages, qualifications and turnover of early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners in the sector. The dashboards will also allow the data to be filtered by a number of variables, including county and service type.

Key data from the first two interactive dashboards in the series: ‘Overview of Service Providers’ and ‘Capacity’ – includes:

• As at 1 June 2023, 4,483 service providers delivered at least one DCEDIY funded programme or scheme, 48 more than on the same day in 2022.

• 95% of service providers participated in Core Funding in 2022/23, while 87% delivered the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) pre-school programme and 77% provided the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).

• It is estimated that over 213,000 children were enrolled in early learning and childcare services across the country in 2022/23, 8% more than in the previous year.

• The total estimated capacity of the sector in 2022/23 was over 243,000, an increase of 6% on the previous year. The highest growth in capacity was for children attending school age childcare, at 25% for those aged 4 to 6 years, and 20% for those aged 6 years and older.

Commenting on the launch of the new Early Learning and Childcare Data website, Minister O’Gorman said:

“I am delighted to launch the new Early Learning and Childcare Data website today, which is an innovative resource for all stakeholders in the early learning and childcare sector, that will support evidence-informed policy development and planning at a national and local level”.

“This new approach will allow us to release data in a more timely way. The interactive nature of the dashboards will provide users greater control over their use of the data and will ensure it is more meaningful and useful to them”.

“I look forward to seeing how these dashboards, developed by Pobal, will evolve and are used in the coming months and years”.

“The key data in the first of two interactive dashboards released today – show the substantial increase in the numbers of services in contract for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) as well as an increase in the numbers of services delivering supports under the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM)”

Anna Shakespeare CEO of Pobal said:

“The launch of the New Early Learning and Childcare Data website is a testament to the progressive nature of the work being undertaken across our Data and Analytics teams in delivering a better user experience to our customers. We are delighted to work alongside the DCEDIY in delivering this new data resource which we think will be a valuable addition to the Early Learning and Childcare sector and Government for future policy making and programme planning over the coming years”.

The dashboards with data for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 programme year can be accessed via [external-link https://www.pobal.ie/childcare/earlylearningandchildcaredata/ www.pobal.ie/EarlyLearningandChildcaredata. ]

Notes to Editor

• Pobal is a not-for-profit organisation that works on behalf of Government to support communities and local agencies towards achieving social inclusion and development.

• Pobal administers a range of programmes and schemes on behalf of the Government, for the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department of Social Protection, as well as the Department of Health/HSE, the Department of Justice, the Department of Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the Department of Transport, and a number of EU bodies.

• Pobal works in the areas of, early learning care and childcare, social inclusion, local and community development, peace and reconciliation, equality, labour market supports, and education and training. Some of the groups supported by Government through Pobal include the long term unemployed, young people, farmers / fishermen, families, Travellers, older people and ex-prisoners.

• As at 1 June 2023, 4,483 service providers were contracted for at least one DCEDIY funding programme.

• More information about Pobal can be found at https://www.pobal.ie/

• Please see press release from 7 December 2023 for related information regarding addressing capacity gaps in the sector

Further information –

The Early Learning and Childcare Data dashboards were designed to replace the Annual Early Years Sector Profile report which was produced annually for 19 years from 2002 to 2021.

Full Press release

Early Learning and Childcare Data Website

Minister O’Gorman announces the introduction of a new pilot Nurturing Skills Learner Fund

Press release

Minister O’Gorman announces the introduction of a new pilot Nurturing Skills Learner Fund

From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Published on 

Last updated on 

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, has today announced the introduction of a new Nurturing Skills Learner Fund on a pilot basis, co-funded by the European Union through the EIST programme 2021 to 2027.

The new Nurturing Skills Learner Fund will support early years educators to undertake approved degree-level qualifications while continuing to work in the early learning and care (ELC) sector. It aims to help achieve the Government objective of achieving a graduate-led workforce in ELC services by 2028.

The expansion of funding opportunities for early years educators to upskill was a key commitment in Nurturing Skills, the Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to build on the significant progress already made in raising skill levels across the workforce. Current data indicates that the proportion of early years educators with a relevant degree qualification has risen from 12% in 2012 to 37% in 2022. Nurturing Skills aims to increase this proportion to at least 50% by 2028.

The pilot Nurturing Skill Learner Fund will make a contribution of up to 90% of course fees for early years educators seeking to upskill by studying for a recognised ELC qualification at level 7 or 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications. It is designed to complement and add to other Government financial supports, such as the Free Fees Initiative and SUSI grants. Funding will be provided directly to approved higher education institutions to reduce the upfront costs of studying for early years educators.

The new Fund aims to enhance the quality of ELC services, while supporting the professional development of early years educators, developing career pathways, and supporting recruitment and retention of staff in the sector.

Announcing the pilot fund, Minister O’Gorman said:

“It gives me great pleasure to announce the pilot Nurturing Skills Learner Fund. The research evidence is clear that the quality of early learning and care services is key to ensuring good outcomes for children, and that early years educators are the key to the quality of those services.

“I would like to recognise the dedication of the many early years educators who have already undertaken higher-level qualifications, often at considerable cost to themselves. While my Department’s Learner Fund has already provided financial support to many, I know that the financial barrier to upskilling has remained high. This new pilot Fund aims to significantly reduce the barrier to early years educators’ professional development.”

The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund will be co-funded by the European Union through the ESF+ Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training programme (EIST) 2021-27. It is included under the Skills and Lifelong Learning strand with the aim of promoting lifelong learning, in particular flexible upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all.

Applications for the Pilot Nurturing Skills Learner Fund will open in May 2024, via Pobal, to early years educators who have applied to approved higher education institutions, with a view to educators who are selected for the pilot receiving financial support for studies commencing in September 2024.

The current Learner Fund has since 2017 given financial support to 3,720 early years educators who have completed ELC qualifications at levels 7 and 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications. The current Learner Fund will continue to be available, with a higher level of post-award bursary contribution from 2024, to assist those who are undertaking degrees but are not part of the new pilot Nurturing Skills Learner Fund.

Notes to the Editor

• The reports mentioned are available at www.gov.ie/nurturingskills and Gov.ie/First5

• Further information on the ESF+ programme in Ireland in available at eufunds.ie

• To be eligible for financial support, courses must have been approved by the Qualifications Advisory Board for the ELC sector: Qualifications Advisory Board (QAB) for the Early Learning and Care (ELC) Sector

Press Release