Laois County Childcare Committee
As per the press release published jointly on 3 October 2025 by the Department with the Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon, a new funding element, the Staff Funding Additional Contribution, will be introduced to centre-based services, effective from the new ERO’s approval date of the 13 October 2025.
What date will the ERO come into effect?
The ERO is effective from the 13 October 2025. This means that the necessary Application Change will open on the Core Funding Application at 10am on 13 October and close on 19 October 2025. This timeframe is available to a Partner Service to submit an Application Change in the Core Funding Application, so that the Staff Funding Additional Contribution allocation value is at the maximum funding available for the programme year.
What am I required to do in advance?
In preparation of the ERO effective date, it is important that Partner Services have their application information for the 2025/2026 Core Funding programme year up to date and ensure their most recent application record is at an “Approved” status.
What am I required to do when the EROs come into effect?
To avail of the Staff Funding Additional Contribution, eligible Partner Services must submit an Application Change between the 13 to the 19 October 2025 and input a Change Effective Date from the 13/10/2025 in the “Staff Member and/or Capacity Change Effective Date” field, when submitting their Application Change. This must be completed in the required timeframe above in order to generate their allocation value for the Staff Funding Additional Contribution for the 2025/2026 Core Funding Programme Year.
Any increase in the Staff Funding Additional Contribution will be effective from the Application Change submission date or the change effective date, whichever is the later. Therefore, to ensure a service is allocated the maximum funding available, it is important that Partner Service submit the Application Change within the required timeframe above, as any delay will result in the increase occurring later than the ERO effective date. Backdating will not be permitted.
Note: For the Staff Funding Additional Contribution allocation to generate, a Partner Service must not submit an Application Change earlier than 10am 13 October 2025. If an application change is submitted before this date, the ERO will not be in effect, therefore will not be applied to the application.
Where can I find further information about the Staff Funding Additional Contribution?
Further information about the Staff Funding Additional Contribution can be found in Schedule 3 and Schedule 2, Section 3.7 to 3.8, of the Core Funding Partner Services Funding Agreement.
What Review should Partner Services carry out to ensure Grant Values are correct during an application change, before submitting?
It is important that on the summary page of your Core Funding application, before submitting your Application Change, that you review the information submitted as part of your Application Change and review the grant values associated with the Staff Funding Additional Contribution.
If your service requires support, additional resources are available under the Core Funding Documents and Help and Support sections on the Early Years Hive. Your local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) also remain available to assist you in completing your Core Funding Application Module.
Friday, 3rd October 2025
New Employment Regulation Order for Early Years Educators and School-Age Practitioners – Ministers Dillon and Foley 10% average increase in minimum hourly rates of pay for an estimated 35,000 Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners.
Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon has confirmed he intends to sign a new Employment Order for Early Years Educators and School-Age Practitioners.
The Order will revoke the 2024 Order currently in operation for the sector and will commence on 13th October 2025. It will provide for increases in new minimum hourly rates of pay as follows:
An additional €45 million in ring-fenced Core Funding will be provided to support early learning and care services in meeting the increased cost of minimum pay rates in the sector
This will bring total Core Funding for services to over €390 million in the 2025/26 programme year.
Minister Dillon said: “I am very pleased to approve these Employment Regulation Orders that will increase the hourly pay rates of approximately 35,000 staff in the Early Years and
School-Age Childcare. This is recognition of the vital role Early Years and School-Age Childcare professionals provide to our society. Those working in the sector provide an
outstanding service to infants and children while offering invaluable support to the trust that families place in them every day. This government is committed to building a sustainable,
high-quality childcare sector by ensuring fair pay and condition. This new ERO is a clear commitment to the continued investment in the professionals caring for our children.”
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Norma Foley has welcomed Minister Dillon’s acceptance of the Early Years Services Employment Regulation Orders as
they will deliver improved pay and conditions, will support career pathways, and will help to support the recruitment and retention of early years educators and school-age childcare
practitioners.
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley said: ‘I warmly welcome the adoption of these Employment Regulation Orders, which represents a much-needed
improvement in pay and conditions for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners. The Department of Children has ringfenced €45 million in Core Funding for early learning and
care services to make these Employment Regulation Orders a reality. I welcome the fact that this funding will be used solely for improved pay for early years educators and school-age
childcare practitioners, who are a hugely significant resource in the delivery of excellence in the early learning and care sector. “I would like to acknowledge the independent nature of the Labour Court and Joint Labour Committee process and the hard work of its members in negotiating the pay and conditions for the early learning and childcare sector. I look forward to seeing further positive negotiations from this process in the future.”
In the 2025/2026 programme year, a new pay element of the grant calculation, the Staff Funding Additional Contribution, will be introduced to centre-based Partner Services to
facilitate the distribution of the €45 million in ringfenced funding. This new element of Core Funding will support Partner Services to meet the costs of
increasing rates of pay as a result of the new Employment Regulation Orders. The rate at which the Staff Funding Additional Contribution is to be paid was agreed upon during the
Joint Labour Committee’s negotiation phase. The Government will continue to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators.
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