The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley – TD, has welcome the new proposals for a 10% increase to minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners. The proposals have been put forward by the Joint Labour Committee, which is made up of employer […]

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, and Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, have today launched the ‘Principles for Engaging in the Arts: A Guide for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Settings’. The Principles for Engaging with the Arts are designed to inspire […]

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley – TD today announced details of the new maximum fee cap for early learning and childcare services participating in Core Funding alongside record State funding of €390 million this year for the Scheme. An initial maximum fee cap was put in place […]

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley – TD and Bernie McNally, Secretary General, Department of Education today addressed the annual Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Forum, which took place in Dublin Castle. Read the full press release here: https://brnw.ch/21wSjX6

Minister Norma Foley – TD has announced the opening of applications for a new fund to upskill early years staff The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund will cover 90 per cent of the course fees for early years staff who undertake a degree course. Full Press Release: https://brnw.ch/21wRh58

Minister Norma Foley – TD is delighted to announce that additional funding of €100,000 has been secured, on top of last year’s allocation of €250,000, to reflect the growth of Parent and Toddler groups in recent years. The funding can be used for a variety of purposes including children’s toys, […]

Minister Norma Foley – TD today announced the opening of the 2025 Childminding Development Grant. The grant aims to support childminders to enhance quality and safety in their service through the purchase of toys, childcare equipment, safety equipment, equipment to support inclusion and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths (STEAM) […]

Roderic O’Gorman TD today published the 2024 edition of the State of the Nation’s Children (SONC) report. Some of the key findings in the report include: • In 2024, it is estimated that there were 1,232,714 children living in Ireland. This accounted for 22.9% of the total population. Of these […]

New Garda Vetting procedures for the ELC and SAC Sector will come into effect on 1 February 2025. Please see the link below for further information:

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth  welcomes the launch of a toolkit for including children from birth to 5 years in decision-making. The toolkit has been published by Hub na nÓg, the national centre of excellence and coordination in children and young people’s participation in decision making, […]