2869. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has assessed whether the current operation of the Graduate Lead Educator Premium provides sufficient incentives for early learning and childcare educators to upskill to Level 7 or higher qualifications and will she make a statement on the matter [60499/26]

I am committed to growing the number of graduates in the sector and achieving our aim of a graduate-led workforce. First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their families, recognises that the workforce is at the heart of high-quality early learning and care. The evidence suggests that children achieve better outcomes when staff are well qualified. This is undisputed internationally.

Nurturing Skills, The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028, seeks to continue to build on commitments in First 5 to develop an appropriately skilled and sustainable professional workforce, and includes a commitment and actions to achieve a graduate-led workforce by 2028.

The Department keeps progress under review through a range of data sources, including the Annual Early Years Sector Profile and Core Funding administrative data. The data indicate a significant increase in qualification levels across the workforce in recent years. The proportion of staff holding an ELC qualification at NFQ Level 7 or above has increased substantially, while the proportion of Lead Educators holding a Level 7 qualification or higher increased from 42.6% in 2021 to 61.2% in 2024.

The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 represented a significant reform in how graduate qualifications are incentivised. Prior to Core Funding, additional State support for graduate-qualified staff was largely provided through the Higher Capitation payment under the ECCE programme and was generally linked to room leaders working with ECCE-age children. Under Core Funding, this approach was replaced by the Graduate Lead Educator and Graduate Manager Premiums, extending support to graduate-qualified Lead Educators working with children across the full 0-6 age range and to graduate-qualified managers.

This broader approach has helped strengthen incentives for graduate qualifications across the sector. Evidence from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile indicates a significant increase in the number of educators with a Level 7 qualification or above working with children aged under three, increasing from 879 in 2022 to 2,661 in 2024.

The Graduate Premium is complemented by the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund (NSLF), which was introduced in 2024 to address financial barriers to upskilling. The NSLF supports eligible early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners to pursue Level 7 and Level 8 qualifications while remaining in employment, contributing up to 90% of tuition costs. More than 1250 learners have been awarded funding through the scheme since its introduction.