# Fairytales Day Care Ltd, Milford — inspection reports and findings > Fairytales Day Care Ltd (Milford, Co. Donegal): what Tusla inspections found — 2 published inspection(s), non-compliances and the provider's corrective actions. ## Fairytales Day Care Ltd Sessional · 0 - 6 Years · Milford, Donegal · Tusla ID **TU2015DL042** · Registered since 1 January 2026 An inspection records what inspectors saw **on one day**; services respond with corrective actions — [how to read this](/methodology.md). #### Inspection of 15 April 2025 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (2) (a) (b) 1.One written and validated reference was not available for one adult in the service who had previous past employment. 2. It could not be determined if a second reference on file for one adult in the service had been validated - 1. Immediate action was taken. A written reference was provided and validated later on the day of inspection. The registered provider has stated they will be ensuring all staff flies are checked and up to date. 2. All staff files references have been checked over and all validations have taken place. The registered provider has stated once they receive a reference it will be immediately validated ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. Garda vetting was available for 1 staff member. However, this vetting disclosure was not dated within the previous three years in adherence to with the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory Notice ‘EYI-RN12.3 Renewal of Garda Vetting’. 2. The sand pit in the outdoor area was left uncovered when not in use, posing as a risk of infection should vermin access it. 3. A service trolley stored in the hallway outside of the kitchen door could impede or delay exiting the premises in the case of an emergency. 4. Digital clocks to record room temperatures were found not to be working correctly on the day of inspection. In the Ladybird room at 12:13 one clock was noted to return a recording of 15°C. The room temperature was recorded by the inspector as being 23.8°C. It is noted that immediate action was taken by staff, with windows being opened and sun blinds coming down, once this was brought to their attention. The temperature was subsequently recorded to be 20.8°C within the guidance parameters. There was no means to record the room temperature on the upper floor, Little Footprints room. 5. A fridge in the Little Footprints room was observed to be unlocked. Medication was found to be stored on a lower shelf, accessible to the children. Infection Control: 6. Gloves and aprons were observed not to be removed after disposing of an unclean nappy, and prior to moving onto the next care activity of placing on a clean nappy, followed with redressing the child. This could lead to a risk of cross infection. Administration of Medication: 7. On review of stored medications, - Two bottles of febrile reducing medications were found to be out of date. - Two bottles of medication were observed to be unlabelled. Fire Safety: 8. A fire extinguisher located in the hallway on the ground floor was found to be blocked with a clothes drying rack. The fire extinguisher was not visible and therefore imposed a risk of delay in the event of a fire breaking out. 9. A fire door in the upstairs room, Little Footprints, was observed to be held open with a stack of chairs. An open fire door allows smoke and flames to travel freely, accelerating the spread of fire. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - General Safety: 1. Immediate action was taken, and the service provider contacted the garda vetting team and the completed vetting form was available in the following few days. The registered provider has stated all garda vetting forms will be routinely checked over for expiry dates. 2. A meeting took place with our groundskeeper, and we discussed putting in place a daily risk assessment checklist specifically for the sandpit. This includes the ground keeper carrying out a morning and evening check over and raking of the sand pit area, to eliminate risk of infection. The registered provider has stated that a checklist had been formatted and in display in our outdoor display area. 3. Immediate action was taken, and the trolley was removed from this area. The registered provider has stated that this area will remain clear. 4. Immediate action was taken, and an electrician visited the setting, which resulted in the original sensors being removed and new sensors fitted also adding insulating padding around sensor. The electrician sourced temperature monitors and these were placed in all care rooms. The registered provider has stated that the electrician will make routine visits to check monitors are working effectively. 5. Fridge locks were placed on fridges Medication has been placed on top shelf out of reach for children. The registered provider has stated that all fridge locks will be placed on fridges. Infection Control: 6. Immediate action was taken, and staff have reviewed nappy changing practice to include hand washing at the start before placing gloves. Gloves are then removed and binned along with nappy resulting in clean hands to place clean nappy/clothes. Hand washing will again take place at the end of this procedure for each child. The registered provider has stated that all staff have been informed of new nappy change practices. Administration of Medication: 7. Immediate action was taken, and the out-of-date medication was handed back to parents and new medication was replaced. All medication is now checked and labelled. The registered provider has stated that all staff will check medication on a monthly basis to ensure in date medication Fire Safety: 8. Immediate action was taken and the clothes drying rack wad removed from this area. The registered provider has stated that all fire extinguish areas will remain clear and accessible at all times. 9. Immediate action was taken, and staff were informed of the fire risk, chairs were removed from holding the door open and will no longer be placed there. The registered provider has stated that Staff are now aware of this fire risk and chairs will no longer be holding door open ##### Regulation 26 — Fire safety measures - (a) The procedure of carrying out and recording monthly fire drills had not been followed. The last documented fire drill was dated the December 2024 - The records pertaining to the smoke detection system were not available on the day of inspection there for it was not possible to ascertain compliance in relation to smoke alarms on point 1 (b) - 1.(a) Immediate action was taken and a fire drill was carried out. The registered provider has stated that a fire drill schedule has been devised and displayed on notice board in hall which informs all staff of next fire drill. 2. A service check on the smoke detection system was carried out by a reputable firm on Friday 23rd May, certificate of this will be furnished to the provider at their earliest convenience. The registered provider has stated that this safety compliance check will be carried out routinely going forward Found compliant: Regulation 11, 27, 28. #### Inspection of 12 November 2024 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (2) (a) (b) Four written and validated reference were not available for three adults in the service who had previous past employment. (d) It could not be determined if one adult required international police vetting as no history of employment was available for the adult - In a written response the Registered Provider stated: (2) (a) (b) All references have now been verified and validated. The office will ensure all references going forward are verified and validated. Evidence of attempts to source reference from past employers will remain on file. (d) History of employment submitted to inspectorate on the 26/02/2025; no international police vetting required ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. In the ‘Little footprints’ room and ‘Tiny giants’ room, temperature reducing medicines were stored in fridge that was unlocked therefore accessible to children. Infection Control: 2. In the sleep room, mattresses were not fitted with waterproof covers as required to ensure infection control. 3. Hand hygiene was observed not to be carried out routinely in the Little ladybirds room after nappy changing posing a risk of infection control. Safe Sleep: 4. In the toddler room, a young child under the age of two, was asleep on a floor mat and sheet with a pillow and blankets. It is acknowledged by the inspectors that the registered provider was taking steps to familiarise the child with the sleep routines and requirements in the service and a risk assessment was carried out. However, it is a requirement that children under the age of 2 are placed to sleep on an acceptable sleep facility as outlined in Tusla’s “Guidance for the Early Learning and Care sector on sleep provision for children under 24 months”. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - General Safety: In a written response the Registered Provider stated: 1. All medicines have been removed from care rooms and placed in the kitchen fridge. Suitable locks have been ordered and will be fitted onto fridges. Infection Control: 2. Waterproof mattress covers have been ordered for each cot. All cots will have a waterproof mattress cover going forward. 3. Discussion with staff team has been carried out and all steps of hand hygiene have been reviewed. All staff team have reviewed the policies and procedures on hygiene protocol Safe Sleep: 4. Immediately after the inspection, a discussion with a parent was carried out in relation to moving a child to a safe bed. Said child is now sleeping safely and contently on the floor bed in same area ##### Regulation 26 — Fire safety measures - 1 (a) Records showed the last fire drill took place in March 2024. The registered provider confirmed that no fire drills had taken place since this date. Regular (monthly) fire drills are required to ensure staff and children are familiar with evacuation procedures - In a written response the Registered Provider stated: A fire drill was carried out on Wednesday 20th November and again on Tuesday 17th December. Routine fire drills will be carried out each month going forward Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19, 25. ### Other services in Donegal - [First Five Early Years Education Ltd T/A Wonderyears Pergola](/creche/first-five-early-years-education-ltd-t-a-wonderyears-pergola-letterkenny.md) Letterkenny - [First Steps Playgroup](/creche/first-steps-playgroup-letterkenny.md) Letterkenny - [Glenties Community Playgroup Ltd](/creche/glenties-community-playgroup-ltd-glenties.md) Glenties - [Kiddlywinks CC Limited](/creche/kiddlywinks-cc-limited-ballintra.md) Ballintra - [Little Acorns Montessori Playschool](/creche/little-acorns-montessori-playschool-buncrana-2.md) Buncrana - [Naíonra Ailt a'Chorráin](/creche/naionra-ailt-a-chorrain-leitir-ceanainn.md) Leitir Ceanainn - [St. Gabriel's Pre-school](/creche/st-gabriel-s-pre-school-letterkenny.md) Letterkenny - [Little Stars Pre-school (Moville)](/creche/little-stars-pre-school-moville-moville.md) Moville - [Newtowncunningham Community Playgroup Ltd](/creche/newtowncunningham-community-playgroup-ltd-lifford.md) Lifford - [Creeslough Community Childcare](/creche/creeslough-community-childcare-creeslough.md) Creeslough [Alert me when a new report is published](/help.md) · [Dated report on this service — €19](/report.md) --- Página: https://creche-inspection-reports.pages.dev/creche/fairytales-day-care-ltd-milford/ Fonte: Tusla Early Years Inspectorate Recolha: 2026-09-11