Immediate action notice. Immediate Action Notice: Regulation 25: An immediate action notice was issued on 18.09.2025 as contrary to the regulatory requirement there was no First Aid Responder (FAR) trained adult available to the children at all times. A response was received on 18.09.2025 from the registered provider outlining actions taken to address the risk including evidence of payment for staff to enrol on the FAR training course. Immediate Action Notice: Regulation 23: An immediate action notice was issued on 18.09.2025 as a serious risk was identified to the health and safety of a child within the service, as the child’s emergency medication was out of date. The inspector brought this to the person in charge’s attention and the staff immediately contacted the child’s parents. A response to the immediate action notice was received on 18.09.2025 outlining the actions taken by staff to contact the child’s parents who brought a new in date medicine into the service for the child The actions taken addressed the risk.
Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
(1)(a)(3) A record was not available of the information required under the regulation for one staff member
Provider's corrective action:
The Curriculum Vitae is available now in a new format now and it is in our employee file. The Manager / Assistant Manager will check all employee files twice yearly to ensure all information for all employees is in their file using our checklist
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
Infection Control: Handwashing practices observed at nappy changing were at variance with the hand washing and nappy changing policy in place in the service. One member of staff changed two children’s nappies in a row and didn’t wash their own or the children’s hands, before returning the children to their room, where the children did wash their hands in the care room. There is a risk of cross contamination while the staff and child held hands between nappy changing and after the adult had changed another child’s nappy. Administration of Medication: An immediate action notice was issued as one child’s emergency medication was out of date. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
Infection Control: The Manager has spoken to all staff about our nappy changing and handwashing practice / policy. The Manager has gone through the correct nappy changing and hand washing practice and steps with all employees and will complete training with all EYE staff every quarter to ensure this doesn’t happen again and all steps are very clear in the nappy changing practice. Rather than just at the beginning of the school year, staff will now include hand washing as a lesson with all children every quarter under the Practical Life lessons in Montessori, using the safefood “Rufus” handwashing materials. Training has been completed with all EYE staff regarding our hand washing practice and policy and our nappy changing practice. The manager has set up a new training form and will oversee training every quarter for all EYE staff, so they are all very clear on the correct nappy changing and hand washing practice. Administration of Medication: Room leaders are responsible for checking medication expiry dates on it and ensuring any replacement medication is requested in plenty of time from parents and in our Medical box and to update our Child Care Plan Form with new expiry date for any medication Emergency Medication was received from parents and is in the medical box. 3 extra columns have been added to our “Child Care Plans Form, this form is displayed in each care room, one column indicates the expiry date to prevent a reoccurrence
Regulation 25 — First aid
(1) Discussion with staff and review of staff files highlighted that someone with First Aid Responder (FAR) training was not available at all times that the service is operating. The roster showed that no staff with FAR certification was going to be available between 16:00 -17:30hrs on the day of inspection. Only one staff member has FAR training and couldn’t be available for all hours of opening
Provider's corrective action:
First Aid Responder training has been booked for 2 staff, 1 who works 8 am – 4 pm daily and the other who works from 10.30 am – 5.30 pm daily, so there is a member of staff with FAR training on the premises all the time. Training will be booked for 2 more staff in the new year. The Manager / Assistant Manager will review the training requirements of all staff twice yearly, once before the service reopens in September and again in January of each year, to ensure all staff training is up to date and in date
Immediate action notice. Two immediate action notices were issued to the registered provider arising from findings on inspection:
Immediate action notice. An Immediate Action Notice was issued on 03 October 2023 for non-compliance with regulation 25 as there were no staff available to the children who were trained in First Aid Responder (FAR) training.
Immediate action notice. A mandatory Garda vetting disclosure was not available for one adult who was on the premises on the day of inspection contrary to the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. As a result, an Immediate Action Notice was issued on 05 October 2023. The registered provider submitted evidence of Garda vetting for the adult on 09 October 2023 demonstrating that this was in place prior to commencement in the service.
Immediate action notice. Non-Compliance Information (1)(3) The registered provider did not notify the agency in advance of implementing changes to the service’s registered details as follows; 1. The service extended the existing premises and added a new care room and a children’s sanitary area. Staff stated that the new care room and facilities have been in operation since September 2022. An additional room, located upstairs, which was previously used as a school aged childcare care room was in use by the early years service. Staff stated that the care room and adjacent sanitary facilities have been in use by the pre-school service since September 2022.
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
(a)(b) There were no references available in respect of one adult. (c) A mandatory Garda vetting disclosure was not available for one adult who had commenced working in the service in September 2022 contrary to the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. An Immediate Action Notice was issued on 05 October 2023. The registered provider submitted a response on the same day which which outlined the actions being taken to address this non-compliance. Evidence of Garda vetting for the adult was submitted on 09 October 2023 demonstrating that this was in place prior to commencement in the service. (d) It was not possible to determine whether there was a requirement for police vetting for one adult present on the day of inspection as there was no record of experience on file for this adult. (4) There was no evidence available to show that three adults who were working directly with the children in the service held a relevant major award in Early Childhood Care and Education on the National Framework of Qualifications
Provider's corrective action:
(a)(b) The 2 references have been provided by the employee. A new Employee Checklist will be used for all future employees to ensure all information required is received from them before they start. (c) A full and complete file is now available in our employee file including Garda vetting which was in place when staff member commenced but not available to the inspector on the day. The employee checklist form will be used by the Manager before any employee commences in Kathy B’s and all employee documentation / id / garda vetting, etc. must be filed in our Employee File and signed off as complete by the Manager before they can commence. The Assistant Manager will also check and co-sign the employee checklist that all documentation required for the new employee is complete and in our Employee File before they can start in Kathy B’s. (d) A CV is on file for staff member now. Staff member does not require Police vetting. The employee checklist form must be signed and co-signed by the Manager and Assistant Manager before any new employee can commence. The Assistant Manager has been made aware of this. This will ensure that a complete file for any new employees will be in our Employee file before they commence and will be available for information and inspection purposes. (4) The 2 After School leaders without a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education will not do any emergency cover or break cover for our preschool classes. Any emergency cover required will be facilitated by the registered provider. A third staff member is enrolled on a relevant course which will be completed in June 2024. In the interim, this staff member will not be included in the adult child ratio
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
Infection Control: 1. The nappy bin in use in the downstairs sanitary area was not pedal operated and staff were observed handling the lid of the bin to dispose of waste posing a risk of cross infection. Administration of Medication: 2. Practices in place for a child attending the service requiring emergency medication were contrary to the service policy, posing a potential risk to the health and safety of children. There was no documented care plan available for one child attending the service who required emergency medication for an allergy, posing a risk to the timely treatment of the child in the event of an emergency. Fire Safety: 3. There were no up to date maintenance records available for the smoke alarm system. Records available on the day of inspection demonstrated that maintenance of the fire detection and alarm system had last taken place in April 2021. Outing: 4. The registered provider did not ensure that adequate steps were taken to minimise the risk to children’s safety on outings. Staff told the inspector that they regularly bring children to the local playground and children and staff were observed in the playground on the inspector’s arrival to the service. a. The procedures detailed in the outings policy did not include the details of management of a critical incident on outings (e.g., missing child). b. There were no completed risk assessment records available for review for previous outings including the outing to the local playground that took place on the day of inspection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
Infection Control: 1. The nappy bin has been replaced by a pedal bin. The Manager will ensure that only pedal bins are used throughout the premises. Administration of Medication: 2. All care plans have been added to each child’s file on our app Little Vista. The care plans have been completed by the parents and signed off by the Manager and shared with all staff. When a child starts in Kathy b’s the Manager will ensure that any medical / emergency information relating to the child will be added to their file on Little Vista from their Registration form at their set up stage. Parents will be requested to complete any care plan for their child on Little Vista before their child can start. This information will be signed off by the Manager and shared with all staff. Fire Safety: 3. The smoke alarm system was serviced on 16th October 2023. The manager will ensure that the smoke alarm is serviced at the same time annually and has added a reminder on her annual checklist. Outing:
a. Details of management of a critical incident (e.g., a missing child have been added to our Outings policy. Our Outings policy has been updated and included in out Parent’s Handbook. The Manager will ensure that the Outings policy includes details of management of a critical incident when reviewing and updating Kathy b’s Policies & Procedures annually. b. A Risk Assessment Form has been added to our Little Vista App which must be completed by staff and signed by the Manager / Assistant Manager / DLP before any outings take place. Previous manually completed risk assessment forms from 2022 / 2023 and prior had been filed by the Manager at home and had been previously inspected and approved during previous inspections. The new Risk Assessment Form on Little Vista will be completed before any outing. The manual paper Risk Assessment form will no longer be used
Regulation 25 — First aid
An Immediate Action Notice was issued on 03 October 2023 as a person trained in first aid was not immediately available to the children on the day of inspection. The registered provider submitted a response on 04 October 2023 demonstrating that two staff are registered to attend FAR training which will be completed on 16 October 2023
Provider's corrective action:
2 staff completed FAR training on 16th October 2023. The Manager will review all training dates as part of her annual checklist to ensure that all training is in date and up to date
Regulation not named in the report text
(1)(3) The registered provider did not notify the agency in advance of implementing changes to the service’s registered details as follows; 1. The service extended the existing premises and added a new care room and a children’s sanitary area. Staff stated that the new care room and facilities have been in operation since September 2022. An additional room, located upstairs, which was previously used as a school aged childcare care room was in use by the early years service. Staff stated that the care room and adjacent sanitary facilities have been in use by the pre-school service since September 2022. 2. The service is registered to provide care for a maximum of 32 children. The registered provider did not notify the registration office that they had increased the number of children attending the service. There were 34 children present on the morning of the inspection
Provider's corrective action:
1. A Notification of Proposed Changes in Circumstance Form sent to Tusla. 2. Notification of Proposed Changes in Circumstance Form sent to Tusla along with the supporting documentation on 19th October 2023 to increase our numbers from 32 to 38. Our numbers will remain at