Analysis: Changes to Irish society, coupled with new policies, has increased the demands and pressures faced by providers
Earlier this year, Norma Foley, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, published the First 5 Annual Implementation Report 2024. 'First 5' was launched in 2018, as a 10-year whole-of-government strategy aimed at improving the lives of children and their families. According to the 2024 Annual Implementation Report, "First 5 has been one of the most successful framework policies for children in Ireland".
A major focus of this 10-year strategy is ensuring access to high quality early years and school age care. Budget 2025 saw a 24% increase in funding, with a total investment of €1.37 billion in this sector. A significant amount of this money goes towards the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), which improves the affordability of childcare for many families. Another sizeable portion funds the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE), with over 107,000 children availing of the scheme during the 2024/25 programme year.
This all sounds like great progress until you read about thousands of children waiting for early years and childcare places. The latest figures from Pobal show approximately 40,000 children under the age of three on creche waiting lists. Although it is likely that this number is artificially inflated, with some children on multiple waiting lists, the situation is stark, nonetheless.
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From RTÉ News, Figures show thousands waiting for childcare places
While on maternity leave with my daughter, I was frantically ringing creches, near and far, to try to secure an elusive place before I was due back to work. My daughter was on multiple waiting lists before I got a call one morning, and it really was like we had won the lottery. Two years down the line, we are delighted with our daughter's early years setting. However, not everyone is so lucky.
Against the backdrop of the concerning waiting list statistics, the First 5 Annual Implementation Report 2024 claims that early years enrolments have increased by 21,443 between the 2022/23 and 2023/24 programme years, from 213,154 to 234,597 enrolments nationally. According to this report, the intention is to have 60,000 state-funded early years places for children under three years, by 2028.
However, Pobal’s annual survey statistics reveal increasing complexity within the early years sector, which has the potential to negatively impact new services opening and increase the likelihood of existing services closing. Early years professionals, particularly early years providers, are navigating an evolving and demanding landscape that requires them to adapt to ongoing, ambitious First 5 policy developments, as well as day-to-day practical challenges. These challenges include embracing and supporting diversity of need, as well as recruiting and retaining a high quality, graduate-led workforce.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Early Childhood Ireland says there is no relief as staff shortages and waiting lists persist in Early Years Care settings nationwide
Early years professionals spend a significant portion of their lives at work, and this has a powerful influence over their well-being and day-to-day functioning. In turn, their well-being has a significant impact on their relationship with our children, our children’s well-being, educational quality and overall care. Over recent years, changes to Irish society, coupled with new policies, has increased the demands and pressures faced by these professionals. Service providers, in particular, have carried the strain of this. However, policy developments, to-date, have failed to adequately address this.
A recent survey of almost 500 early childhood providers found that 95% of this group reported feeling stressed and the reasons for this stress were overwhelmingly work-related. Scores on a well-being measure, revealed that almost 60% of these providers were at risk for poor well-being and potential depression.
The survey was completed by providers across all 26 counties, with the highest number of respondents coming from Dublin, Cork, Galway, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. While the majority of providers ran sessional childcare services, full-time, part-time and school-age childcare were also represented. In addition, a sizeable number of respondents, over 35%, provided multiple childcare services.
When we looked closer at the sources of work-related stress that the providers were experiencing, the burden of administration, financial pressures and staffing issues were repeatedly raised. One respondent highlighted: "Unreasonable demands, the kids need our energy and are not worried about pristine policies [and] paperwork, they want to be seen and heard fully, they want… adults who are fully present." Another was concerned about the "demands of administrative work as a provider, no way of switching off work, constant worry of finishing tasks."
Read more: Could a truly public system fix childcare and education in Ireland?
Speaking about the financial pressures they faced, one respondent wrote: "The most stressful [is] the balancing of the books and all that goes with it… I’m so stressed all the time and that’s for years. The joy is gone from everything in this business except the joy of the children and what I provide for them everyday. That at this stage isn’t enough for me going forward in my life. I’ve built this business up and gave it everything and to have so many worries for myself is a debilitating circumstance." Another commented: "My main source of stress is financial worry, can I pay the staff?"
The service providers clearly expressed having limited control over the administrative demands linked to their work, and this was magnified by financial and staff challenges. Many respondents wrote about the fear of not having funds to pay staff wages, as well as being concerned about staff recruitment and retention. As a result, most providers, who own and manage their services, must supplement staffing ratios by working with children themselves. Considering that most early years services are open year-round, to facilitate working parents, there is little time for these providers to recoup and reenergise.
In Ireland, early years services are funded through a combination of public investment and parent fees. This includes Core Funding, which is intended to support quality, alongside management of fees and cost transparency. Several conditions are linked to Core Funding, including a fee freeze and a specified pay scale for the early years sector. While providers are not obliged to avail of Core Funding, access to other funding schemes is restricted if they do not. This funding infrastructure, while it has its benefits, constrains the providers’ financial autonomy. This in turn, compromises their ability to attract the staff they want, as well as compromising their own ability to draw a viable wage. This is a perfect storm for occupational stress, burnout and service closures, and can only serve to impede the realisation of the First 5 goals.
While early years professionals are not directly employed by the Irish State, the early years funding infrastructure essentially means that service providers are no longer independent businesses. While the early years framework and policy developments have had an undeniably positive impact in some areas, including affordability for families, there is still work to do to ensure a system that works for all stakeholders and prevents a reality where families are left without places, providers are burnt out and services are closing.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
