Analysis: More local, independent and community-based providers would see a move away from entities prioritising profit over care
By Sheila Garrity and Marlene McCormack, DCU
The issue of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) seems to appear regularly in the media for all the wrong reasons. The value of early childhood education and care only came to the fore for the wider public during the pandemic, though its importance in children's learning, development and wellbeing has long been understood by educators, researchers and parents.
The Government has been industrious in shaping early childhood education and care, increasing investment from €638m in 2020 to €1.37b in 2025. We've also seen the introduction of a range of funding schemes, grant aids to improve the environments in private setting, lowering the cost for families, updating curriculum and centralising resources.
But despite an over-doubling of investment, we still see reports that parents believe fees that are too high, educators with increasing levels of qualifications are experiencing inadequate salaries and precarious conditions and owners/managers are struggling to make ends meet. So, where do the problems arise?
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, reporter Aisling Kenny highlights the increase in closures of creches and early years childcare services.
To start, the State does not provide ECEC services. We depend on the private marketplace and community services and the nature of ECEC ownership is changing. The landscape of ECEC in Ireland is made up of 3,557 entities delivering 4,826 regulated services. Of these, 3,667 (76%) operate on a for-profit basis. The annual survey of ECEC undertaken by Pobal, offers insights into the number of settings a given provider operates.
Most providers (3,017) operate a single service - these are our local community or independent private providers; the types of services that are a focal point of our towns and neighbourhoods, where managers know all the children who have passed through their doors, and their families. A further 496 entities operate two to five settings; their entrepreneurial spirit seeing these owners expand, though on a small scale, still with a hand in the daily operations. These independent local providers have been and continue to be the backbone of ECEC across Ireland.
We are, however, witnessing the growth of multi-site ownership. Pobal reports that 30 companies run between six and 10 settings; a further 14 businesses operate more than 11 settings each. This trend of acquisition and mergers, which creates more and larger multi-site operations, is ongoing. A significant proportion of these entities are now owned by international investment funds. Other large multi-site providers across Ireland are heavily indebted having sought investment from private equity and venture capital firms.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Early Childhood Ireland says there is no relief and calling those in government to address these challenges
International evidence consistently shows the impact when ECEC shifts from the child to profit. The quality of education and care suffers, parent fees increase, accessibility is reduced, disadvantaged communities are undeserved and the terms and conditions of employees are degraded.
While the Government continues to invest taxpayers’ money in early childhood services, the profits are diverted to shareholder dividends and director’s salaries are on the increase. Recent moves by a number of ECEC businesses to resist pay increments established by an Employment Regulation Order - increments covered by State funding to services - is a further example of this profit imperative driven by corporate childcare.
But change may be underway for a number of reasons. Firstly, research undertaken by the authors showcases alternative models or approaches to ‘multi-site’ ECEC provision by non-profits. One such model, based in the West of Ireland, Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta (CNnG) is committed to the continuance of Irish speaking communities, by providing quality ECEC services, language support for families and investing in their Irish-speaking workforce.
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From RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Adhmhaidin, Grace Uí Dhomhnaill of Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta on dealing with long waiting lists for childcare
CNnG is now a large organisation, operating some 135 services in total. Economies of scale support their presence in smaller communities, villages and islands, where they can operate services that would otherwise be unsustainable. This commitment ensures every child’s right to education in their first language, in their own community.
Based in the suburban areas of west Dublin in Clondalkin and Tallaght, StartBright is a community enterprise with seven early childhood settings, catering for over 450 children and employing over 80 staff. StartBright is committed to making a difference for children, parents and families through a support and early intervention model, in what are growing and diverse communities.
What emerges strongly from both models is the commitment to supporting and enhancing local communities, a strong value base that holds children’s learning and development at the centre of all efforts, while nurturing strong partnerships with families. Critically, any surpluses are reinvested into service provision and sustainability.
In these models, young children, families, educators and their communities are the winners
Both organisations highly value educators: StartBright developed an in-house salary scale and promotes capacity building through staff-selected continuing professional development. Following a collective and creative problem-solving process, CNnG initiated 12-month contracts for preschool staff, who previously "signed on" for summer months.
There has been much advocating for ECEC as a public good, similar to how we value primary and secondary schools. The Department of Children, Disability, and Equality recently published plans exploring public models of ECEC. The proposal will see the State intervene directly to purchase buildings, converting and kitting them out as early years settings, before recruiting not-for-profit providers as operators. Successful models such as StartBright and CNnG should be considered, as we move into this State-led period of ECEC in Ireland.
All of this suggests that maybe there is hope for the future direction of ECEC with a refocusing towards local State-led independent and community-based provision, and a move away from private equity and venture capital firms. This would be a positive move.
The authors' research project is funded by Research Ireland
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Dr Sheila Garrity is an associate professor in Early Childhood Education at DCU. Dr Marlene McCormack is an assistant professor in Early Childhood Education and programme chair of the School of Language, Literacies and Early Childhood Education at DCU.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
