Thousands of highly-qualified early years educators will leave the sector if pay issues are not urgently addressed, industry body Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) has warned.
The organisation has persistently called for workers with university qualifications to receive pay and conditions on a part with primary schoolteachers.
ECI policy director Frances Byrne said Budget 2026 must inject “significant investment” into the sector or “talented educators will continue to leave in high numbers and services will struggle to fill the vacancies”. This will “ultimately impact children’s experiences and their outcomes”, he said.
“Early Years educators play a critical role in young children’s development, yet their pay and conditions tell a completely different story,” Ms Byrne said.
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The ECI points to recently-released research by State-sponsored Pobal, which manages and supports various Government-funded programmes, shows the scale of the staffing problem across the sector.
The study found almost 2,300 workers left their jobs in 2023/24 to pursue other careers, while a further 1,500 emigrated. Staff turnover among the estimated 40,000 workers in the sector increased slightly year-on-year, standing at just above 25 per cent.
Some 1,200 of the sector’s 5,000 services reported vacancies when Pobal conducted its research, while more than 2,500 said they had had at least one in the previous 12 months. Many said it took months to fill some roles.
The number of people with level 8 degree qualifications increased by about a third over the previous two years. Yet their average pay remained at about €10,000 less than primary schoolteacher starting pay, and they received few of the pension or holiday benefits.
Many taking early education courses end up pursuing post graduate qualifications to become teachers.
Ms Byrne said: “When over half of those leaving their roles choose to walk away from the sector entirely or emigrate, it’s a clear warning sign and reflects a system that isn’t valuing its educators.”
In its submission to the Government before the Budget, Ibec trade association Childcare Services Ireland (CSI), which represents childcare providers, calls for an additional €16.5 million for the Core funding scheme intended to support services with running costs.
The organisation also wants “a phased exit” from the current freeze on fees paid by parents whose children attend services that receive Core funding.
CSI director Stephanie Roy said fee freezes and caps “may appear to offer short-term relief to parents” but they “undermine the long-term sustainability and quality of childcare provision”.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Early Childhood Providers has described reports of widespread waiting lists for places in early learning and childcare services as a “manufactured myth”.
The federation, which represents many smaller chains and independent operators, said a survey of 543 of its members found 43 per cent had no waiting list, 42 per cent were operating below full capacity and 57 per cent said they were full.
“The so-called childcare crisis is not about overflowing waiting lists,” said the federation’s chair, Elaine Dunne. “It is about a Government that refuses to invest properly in its children, its families, and its future.”
The Pobal research put the total number of children on waiting lists at about 40,000, although it said there were also 15,000 childcare places across the system. It found 41 per cent of service providers had vacancies, while 48 per cent said they had families seeking places. It suggested, as the federation does, that much of the problem relates to particular shortages in some areas.
