Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has the highest rate in the State of childcare service staff turnover at 37.9 per cent according to the latest available figures.
Cork City Council has the second highest departure rate at 33 per cent followed by Dublin City Council where 32.4 per cent of staff left their employment. The lowest rate of turnover was in Roscommon at 16.4 per cent.
The statistics also reveal that 7 per cent of all early learning and childcare services had an annual employee turnover rate of 80 per cent or more, representing 291 of 3,996 services.
The national average rate of staff leaving the service was 24.5 per cent in 2023, the most recent year for which figures are available. This is down 0.2 per cent on the previous year when it was 24.7 per cent.
The underlying problem of boyhood is manhood
‘Ireland is a beautiful country. And for all the weirdness, I find the people to be really helpful’
Half a million euro for a ‘moderate’ retirement? The lump sums you need to save
Marine Le Pen banned from standing for office for five years and sentenced to four-year jail term
Minister for Children Norma Foley said levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. “While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my department, set wage rates or working conditions.”
But Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly said the current model of early years care “is not fit for purpose – whereby the Government is a significant funder but is not concerning itself with the terms and conditions of staff”. The Kildare North TD was supplied the figures in response to parliamentary questions.
The Minister said €331 million was allocated between 2024-2025 through the core funding scheme and an additional €15 million was secured specifically to support employers to meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. Ms Foley pointed out that the allocation translates into full year costs of €45 million for 2025/2026.
At present a new graduate entering the early education sector can earn as little as €13.65 an hour, or about €27,700 a year, only fractionally above the €13.50 per hour minimum wage, despite their qualifications. A graduate lead educator could be on €16.28 per hour, or just more than €33,000. These are minimum rates set for the sector and some but not all employers pay above that rate.
[ Why childcare students are walking away from childcare jobsOpens in new window ]
Pay for primary schoolteachers starts at about €44,500 next month and those working in the early education sector say the difference is one of the many factors contributing to substantial staff shortages in the sector.
In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown the 37.9 per cent staff turnover rate was 3.8 per cent higher than the previous year, 1.6 per cent higher in the Cork city local authority area and 1.4 in Dublin city. The Roscommon staff turnover rate fell by 6.1 per cent from 22.5 per cent.
In Limerick rates fell from 21.3 per cent to 20 per cent while in Galway the rate of staff turnover dropped from 30.4 per cent to 21.6 per cent. Kilkenny rates remained the same for both years at 20.5 per cent while Kerry showed a 0.1 per cent increase from 25.2 per cent to 25.3 per cent.
Mr Farrelly said the programme for government “includes a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare for families – but without focusing on the workforce, I really don’t believe this will be achievable”.
The Minister pointed to the longer-term strategy for the sector: Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028.
This aims to “strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector”. It includes commitments to support “recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector”.
