THE EARLY CHILDHOOD Ireland Barometer 2025, released today, shows extensive recognition by the Irish public of the importance and value of Early Years and School Age Care, with two-thirds of Irish adults agreeing that the education of children aged under five is as important as the education of children aged over five.

For many years, Early Years and School Age Care was viewed as a support for working parents. That perspective is finally shifting. Findings in this year’s Barometer demonstrate the public’s perception of Early Years and School Age Care as an integral part of society that plays a crucial role in children’s emotional, cognitive and social development.

The eighth edition of Early Childhood Ireland’s annual poll shows overwhelming public support (76%) across all age brackets and socio-economic backgrounds for access to high-quality Early Years and School Age Care for all children, with three-quarters in favour of free Early Years provision.

It is clear that the Irish public recognises Early Years and School Age Care as a public good, so the question is: why isn’t this a national priority?

Affordability

The new government has promised to take steps to improve affordability for families, but much more needs to be done to address enduring issues, including the recruitment and retention of staff and nationwide waiting lists. Thousands of young children are waiting for a crèche place, and it’s obvious that we are nowhere near delivering the access that more than three-quarters of people in Ireland believe every child should have.

The government’s commitments to addressing affordability will fall short if they do not also reform capacity planning in every community and do much more to lift the terms and conditions of the 30,000-strong workforce. Lower fees will mean very little if there are no places for children, and no qualified educators to care for them.

To meet public expectations and the rights of children, we need major progress on long-term capacity planning, locally and nationally. To support the dedicated educators and practitioners who work in 4,700 settings, much faster progress needs to be made in the areas of pay and overall career development for staff. There is public support for improving conditions for Early Years educators, with over half of adults in agreement that staff in crèches who have university degrees should have the same terms and conditions as teachers in primary schools.

It continues to be a source of shame that the government fails to give adequate recognition to those educating our youngest citizens. Without parity of pay and conditions, we will continue to lose talented Early Years and School Age Care graduates to other areas, and the staffing shortage in settings will persist.

Supporting families

This year’s Barometer also highlights strong support for parents to receive better financial assistance to stay at home with their child for the first 12 months, with 65% of the public in favour, up 3% from last year’s results. Research shows benefits for children’s development from having a parent or guardian at home in the first year of life.

At Early Childhood Ireland, we have been calling for the government to guarantee 66% of a parent or guardian’s income, in line with the European Commission recommendations, to ensure parents can afford to stay at home during this crucial period.

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Despite progress by the last two governments, new reports from the OECD and the European Commission show the legacy of underinvestment here in Ireland. These reports underline that addressing affordability is simply not enough. To strengthen the sustainability of settings, and as Ireland moves towards a publicly funded model, the new government needs to commit to greater investment that will address funding, planning and staffing issues urgently.

The 2025 Barometer clearly demonstrates broad public support for a high-quality, accessible Early Years and School Age Care system. Now is the time for the new government to translate these public sentiments into tangible and lasting changes. Every child in every community should have guaranteed access to this public good as their right and only strong political leadership will get Ireland to where it urgently needs to be.

Frances Byrne is Director of Policy at Early Childhood Ireland.