Inspection of 22 October 2025 — Inspection Report
Immediate action notice. An Immediate Action Notice was issued under
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- (9) (2) (a) (1) Eight references were not on file for five staff members. (2) Four references on file for two adults had not been validated, and one reference did not appear on the adults CV. (3) Gap in CV for two adults. (4) No ID or CV available for one adult. (9) (2) (C) (5) The registered provider did not ensure that all staff working directly with children had appropriate vetting disclosures in place. On the day of inspection, two staff members who had access to preschool children did not have Garda vetting on file. The absence of Garda vetting poses a significant risk to the safety and welfare of children attending the service. An Immediate Action Notice was issued on 22nd October, and a response was received from the registered provider on 23rd October confirming that both staff members would not continue to work in the service until Garda vetting had been obtained. 9 (4) (6) On the day of the inspection, it could not be established if one staff member had the required qualification to work directly with the preschool children. (7) One staff member observed working with the preschool children did not have the required qualifications to work with preschool children
Provider's corrective action:
- 9 (2) (a) All c. v’s have been updated and validated including staff identification. Going forward I will make sure to get all relevant information before employee’s start. 9 (2) (C) The garda vetting for the two staff on site on the day of inspection has now been obtained and is on file for each staff. 9 (4) On the day we had our inspection unfortunately my staff members were sick. I now have a qualified relief worker on standby should this happen again
Regulation 22 — Food and drink
- (1) On the day of inspection, it was observed that the service did not provide adequate and nutritious hot food for children attending on a full day care basis. Children were seen consuming snacks brought from home, and the service provided beans, toast, and oranges alongside with these snacks. A review of the rolling weekly menu indicated that hot meals consisted of soup with brown bread, beans on toast, warm wraps, sausage rolls, and ham and cheese toasties, accompanied by platters of fruit, cucumber, cheese, and crackers. While the service policy states that food is not provided, Regulations requires that children in full day care receive adequate and nutritious food
Provider's corrective action:
- (1) As regards to the food, due to the size and layout of our kitchen facilities, we are not in a position to safely prepare full hot meals on site. We do provide appropriate hot food options daily, alongside freshly prepared sandwiches and fruit, all in line with food safety guidelines. Our current food provision meets the children’s needs and is well received by parents and is kept under regular review
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- General Safety: 1. Garda vetting was available for two staff members. However, these vetting disclosures were 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. During the inspection, the water temperature at one of the children’s wash hand basins was found to exceed the maximum safe limit of 43°C. This poses a potential risk of scalding. It is acknowledged that, once brought to the attention of the registered provider, the basin was immediately put out of bounds to prevent access and mitigate risk Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- General Safety: (1) Renewal of garda vetting for two staff who require it has been acquired and forwarded to inspector for review. (2) The temperature has been lowered and regular checks by staff are in place to monitor this. My plumber was called and reduced the temperature of the water the next day
Found compliant: Regulation 11, 20, 21, 27, 28.