(a) A record was not available of the monthly fire drills that are required to be carried out in the service. The last fire drill was carried out in December 2025
Provider's corrective action:
(1)(a) A fire drill was immediately conducted with all staff and children attending the service. A report was created, adding the number of staff and number of children present, the evacuation time, and the person in charge. ABC Future Heroes Preschool has added fire drill to its calendar and reports will be kept for each fire drill
Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 16, 19, 23, 25, 28.
Immediate action notice. 03 February 2025 The inspection was undertaken on foot of information received by the Early Years Inspectorate. 04 February 2025 An Immediate Action Notice was issued in relation to the non-availability of Garda vetting for one adult. Please refer to
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
The person in charge had not ensured that each employee working in the service was suitable and competent as the following documents were not available on file for some adults employed
(c) A Vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau of the Garda Síochána in accordance with the Act of 2012 was not available in respect of one adult. On the 04 February 2025 an immediate action notice was issued in relation to non-availability of Garda Vetting for one adult. It is acknowledged that on the 05 February 2025 the required Garda Vetting documentation was submitted by the registered provider to the early years inspectorate for the particular adult. (d) Police vetting was not available for one adult who had lived in another state for a period of longer than 6 consecutive months. (3) The vetting procedures for two adults were not carried out prior to they being appointed, assigned or allowed access to or contact with children who attended the pre-school service. Potentially not having staff appropriately vetted prior to them commencing in the service may allow inappropriate adults have access to children. (7)(a)(b)(c) A written record was not available to evidence the training relating to policies, procedures, statements and regulations required to be given to the adults prior to their commencement in the service. Where adults have not received the required induction, it could potentially lead to childcare practice that is not in line with service policy
Provider's corrective action:
The registered provider stated that the service will ensure that all employees have Garda vetting disclosures completed. It has been verified and ensured that all employees have a verification from the National Vetting Bureau of Garda Siochana, as emailed to early years inspectorate, on 5 March 2025. (d) Verification carried out, the team was immediately asked to hand over the verification, which was checked and filed in the folder. All staff folders will be checked constantly
Checks are carried out on all staff before having contact with children
All staff received training and signed the policies to confirm the receipt of the training. Training will be checked constantly. The training was carried out on 01 April 2025 with all employees, in which everyone signed a report confirming the training, which was filed in the Policies and Procedures folder. All staff folders and training will be checked constantly, new Staff can only Start their work after all courses, vetting and other requirements are complete
Regulation 11 — Staffing levels
The registered provider did not ensure that at least two adults were present at all times during the operation of the full day care childcare facility. The attendance record for week beginning 24 February 2024 indicated while children were in attendance only one adult is present from 07:30 to 08:00 and from 16:00 to 17:00
Provider's corrective action:
Corrective and Preventive Action The registered provider stated that this non-conformity was corrected immediately, two staff are always present. There will always be a reserve staff in case of emergency, always ensuring two staff present
Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
A staff roster was not available to demonstrate the adults rostered hours and work schedule therefore it could not be ensured that an appropriate number of adults care for the children in attendance at all times
Provider's corrective action:
Corrective and Preventive Action A list was placed at the main entrance, and another attached in the classroom, for further verification. The list is placed every Monday morning; it will also be sent on the service app every Monday the schedules of employees of the week
Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child
Supporting Relationships Around Children 1. The registered provider and two adults had difficulty with understanding the English language and speaking in English. Questions had to be repeated and ultimately required the assistance of another adult in order to be provided with the information required on inspection. The difficulties the adults had in the care room were notably communicating in and understanding the English language . This potentially may impact negatively upon relationships to support children and their parents/guardians, may impact speech and language development in children attending the service and may create challenges in providing individual care and support to children in their care
Provider's corrective action:
Corrective and Preventive Action Verification of the level of English is checked during the interview; candidates need to possess fluent English for communication with children and parents. Everyone has undergone an interview, and their verbal and written English will be evaluated according to the service policy. A new verbal and written interview w ere conducted with one adult, in which it was noted that this adult did not speak English and is no longer employed in the service. The second adult was also reinterviewed again, where it was noted that her spoken and written English was basic. This adult is still working at the service and will undergo a new assessment in 3 months. Everyone has undergone an interview, and their verbal and written English will be evaluated according to our Policy
Regulation 20 — Facilities for rest and play
An area was not available in the care room for children attending the full day care service to sleep, rest or relax during the programme of care. Some of the children arrive to the service at 07:00 and leave at 17:00. This potentially may impact a child’s sleep quality, level of interaction and learning during the day
Provider's corrective action:
Each child needing sleep is provided with an individual child bed (camp bed, stackable bed, mats) positioned in a way that allows easy access around each mat or bed. Beds meet recognized safety standards, according to the service policy. All staff have been instructed to follow the policy and ensure access to a (camp bed, stackable bed, mats), for each child who needs to sleep
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
Infection Control: The pedal on the nappy disposal system was broken. The adults had to touch the lid of the bin in order to dispose of nappies. A lidded, lined, pedal operated nappy disposal system was not available. This posed a potential risk of cross infection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
Infection Control: The d iaper disposal was replaced immediately, ensuring no cross -infection. The conditions will be checked regularly, making the replacement whenever necessary
Regulation 25 — First aid
The three adults working directly with the children in the service did not hold a record of up to date First Aid Responder (FAR) training
Provider's corrective action:
Corrective and Preventive Action All staff were enrolled to be taking the course between April 2, 03, 09 and 12. All courses necessary to take and renew will be checked quickly. All courses will be renewed as soon as their expiration is near
Regulation 26 — Fire safety measures
The following posed a potential risk in the event of a fire;
Evidence of completed fire drills were not available. (b) A record was not available for the maintenance of the smoke alarms in the premises
A fire action notice demonstrating the procedures to be followed in the event of fire was not displayed in the service
Provider's corrective action:
(1)(a)(b) Fire simulation is carried out by the primary school, certificate has already been attached to the regulations folder. The alarm maintenance is carried out by the primary school. (4) A fire action notice demonstrating the procedures to be followed in the event of a fire was immediately placed in both the room and corridor connecting the entrance to the room with the main entrance. All simulations and alarm reviews will be monitored together with the primary school
Found compliant: Regulation 10, 15, 28, 29, 30, 32.
Regulation 8 — Notification of Change in Circumstances
(1) The service failed to notify Tusla of a change in the opening hours of the service and of the name of the designated person in charge, at least 60 days before the proposed change would take effect or as soon as possible thereafter. The service is registered to open between 07.00 and 18.00, however the opening hours at the time of inspection were 07.00 to 18.30. The name of the designated person in charge is at variance with the name on the directory of services
Provider's corrective action:
A Change of Circumstances form was submitted to the registration office
Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child
(1)(a) BASIC NEEDS OF CHILDREN: 1. The privacy and dignity of the children was not respected during nappy changing. One adult took three pre- school children to the nappy changing room for nappy changing. Two children observed each nappy change and were also observed touching the toilet and other surfaces in the nappy changing room. PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL ENVIRONMENT: The outdoor play area was not set up for play as evidenced by; 2.The wooden kitchen had three stainless steel basins full of dirty water, stones and leaves. There were not accompanying accessories with the kitchen and no child was observed to gravitate towards it for play. Some accessories were placed in the kitchen following a request by the Early Years Inspector. 3. A plastic sand box had the lid on and no child was observed to play with it. When the lid was removed, there were no play accessories in the sand box. Some were then placed there by the staff following a request by the Early Years Inspector. 4. A limited amount of toys and equipment was made available to the pre-school children when playing outdoors. There were two outdoor storage units used to house the outdoor play equipment. The children could not access the toys in these units as they were too high and out of their reach
Provider's corrective action:
The CAPA response of the 30.11.2023 stated that; 1. Staff have been reminded of the nappy changing policy of the service. 2,3,& 4. Staff have been reminded by the registered provider to treat the outdoor space the same as the indoor space with regards to setting up inviting play spaces prior to the children going out to play. Staff will be reminded at induction and the service manager will monitor this. It will be added to the induction process for new staff
Regulation 20 — Facilities for rest and play
1.Two childcare staff stood at either end of the outdoor play area when the children were outdoors. This was to ensure that children did not venture into the area designated for the national school children or go through the fencing between the school yard and the field belonging to the adjoining farm. This practice reduced the availability of the staff to engage with the children playing outdoors. 2. An incident form reviewed during inspection recorded that a pre-school child escaped from the outdoor play area into the field of the adjoining farm when distracted by animals in the field. A risk assessment was completed on the 25.09.2023 identifying the necessity to reinforce the boundary fencing between the outdoor play area and the adjoining farm. On the day of inspection, 20.10.2023 the action identified in the risk assessment had not been completed, thus posing a safety risk to the pre-school children attending the service
Provider's corrective action:
1. The CAPA response stated that staff will bring children outdoors in smaller groups to improve opportunities for engagement with all the children. Please also note there was three staff present so engagement was occurring. Staff also feel as this is a new service, children are learning boundaries and space awareness also. 2. The fence has been secured by the primary school
Regulation 22 — Food and drink
1. The food supplied to the pre-school children was insufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the children attending on a part-time/full day care basis and was at variance with the healthy eating policy of the service. Thirteen pre-school children were present in the service after 12.30, they were attending on a part time /full day care basis. Seven children were not supplied with hot meals on the day of inspection. The content of the meals observed consisted of sausage and waffle, a pot of instant hot noodles served from the container, plain pasta, pasta with sauce and bread rolls. One child choose to eat a pasta-based meal cold. The requirement of each child being supplied with a minimum of one hot meal was not met. The registered provider stated that some frozen dinners were available in the freezer, but these were not made available to the children who did not have a hot meal supplied by their parents
Provider's corrective action:
1.The CAPA response stated that parents were all reminded of the healthy eating policy of the service. Staff have been reminded to enforce it by providing reminders directly to parents if required. Children will be offered an alternative meal choice supplied by registered provider if required
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
General Safety: 1. The safety catch on a low level press where cleaning products were stored in the playroom was broken posing a safety risk to the pre-school children. 2. 0n the day of inspection, the temperature of the water at the wash hand basins in the children’s sanitary accommodation measured 47.7˚ C at 11.00 hours. This exceeded the maximum recommended safe water temperature of 43˚ C and posed a risk of burning of the pre-school children’s hands. The water temperature was reduced to 41.5˚ C at 12.40 hours following the intervention of the Early Years Inspector. Infection Control: 3. There was a strong odour in the nappy changing room. The plastic sanitary waste bin used to store used nappies did not provide an adequate seal thus posing a risk of cross infection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
General Safety: 1. New type lock catches have been purchased as one child was able to pull them off. Locks have been changed and will use alternative in the setting going forward. 2. The Primary School set new temperature gauge to regulate the water of the water at the wash hand basins. Staff will monitor water temperature. Infection Control: 3. New nappy changing bin has been purchased
Regulation 30 — Minimum space requirements
(30)(1) The following table illustrates non-compliance relating to space requirements in the playroom room of the service: 1. In the afternoon, between 14.00 and 15.00 hours there was an inadequate amount of space available in the playroom to cater for the number of pre-school children in the service. The space required for the 13 children attending PT/FDC from 12.30 onwards was 30.15 m². The space available was 37.44 m² . Nine school aged children occupied the playroom from 14.00 to 15.00 resulting in the space of the 13 pre-school children being compromised. Room Number and age range of children present Type of Service required Space required per child Space available Space required Playroom/Classroom 14.00 to 15.00 Total=13 pre- school children 5: 2-3 years 8: 3-5 years 9 school aged children Part time /FDC Part time /FDC School aged care 5 x 2.35m²=11.75m² 8 x 2.3 m²=18.4m² Not specified 37.44 m² 7.29 m² 30.15 m² Not specified
Provider's corrective action:
1. The registered provider stated that afterschool children do not share the room with preschool children. They have a designated room in the school and are separated, as a sensory room was under construction by the primary school. The school age children will have a separate space in a different classroom permanently