# Muckalee Community Project CLG, Ballyfoyle — inspection reports and findings > Muckalee Community Project CLG (Ballyfoyle, Co. Kilkenny): what Tusla inspections found — 4 published inspection(s), non-compliances and the provider's corrective actions. ## Muckalee Community Project CLG Sessional · 0 - 6 Years · Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny · Tusla ID **TU2015KK059** · 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 16 April 2025 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - Infection Control: 1.The inspector observed that the nappy bin in the wobbler room required staff to use their hands to dispose of the nappy into the bin. This was not compliant with the Early Year’s Inspectorate’s regulatory notice to the sector requiring all nappy changing bins to be pedal operated and not requiring staff to touch the bins with their gloved hands. It is acknowledged that on the day of inspection the designated person in charge replaced the bin with a pedal operated bin. 2. The inspector observed that in the wobbler room there was a tear in a giraffe themed stool exposing the foam underneath. This did not allow for effective cleaning of the stool. 3. The upholstery on the rocking chair in the wobbler room was stained with discoloured patches of stain and required cleaning to reduce any potential source of infection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - Infection Control: The following actions were submitted by the registered provider. 1. The nappy bin was replaced with a pedal bin. 2. The rocking chair was replaced with an armchair 3. The sofa was replaced with a bigger sofa that is easy wipe and maintain clean 1. The educators were reminded of the QRF practice so going forward only pedal bins are to be used for nappies and waste, at all times 2.The new arm chair is now easy to keep clean as it is made of a wipeable material, the educators can just wipe it down as the stain/spills occur 3.Replace the sofa as soon as tears become visible Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 19, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28. #### Inspection of 23 September 2024 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) **Immediate action notice.** Non-Compliance Information (1) On the day of inspection, the designated person in charge was not the named designated person in charge as stated in the service’s registration details. **Immediate action notice.** Summary Comment The actions submitted are appropriate to address the non-compliances. The implementation of these actions will be reviewed next inspection. ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (2)(a)(b) Eight of the 34 references for staff employed in the service were not validated. One validated reference was not available for one student on placement in the service. The five references that were available for students on placement in the service, were not validated - The following response was submitted by the designated person in charge. Corrective and Preventive Action On speaking with the students’ teachers, they informed management that all references have been validated and there is no need for management to redo this process. Following the Early Years Inspectorate last inspection review, all references have been now validated. The student whose reference was missing, now has been updated and all references have been verified. Including the 8 staff references. A new recruitment page has been attached to the staff folder with strict specifications to all paperwork needed for all students before they will undertake work experience at Muckalee Community Childcare. A new student folder has been made with all the relevant paperwork need it prior to their start. Management will ensure that going forward all references will be verified prior work/work practice commence at Muckalee Community Childcare regarding their job title ##### Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child - 1. The green outdoor space proposed to be available to the children in the baby/wobbler room required review. As the children in this room were learning to walk, the uneven surfaces and sloping gradient of the area could compromise their ability to enjoy the area and potentially cause a child to injure themselves. The small area that was available to the children directly outside their classroom had been resurfaced with a rubber mat surface since last inspection, however a downpipe in this area which continued to spill onto the area continued to make it quite wet at times. 2. At 10:20 hours the children in the toddler room were observed having their snack out of their lunch boxes on the tables. No appropriate eating utensils, plates or personalised wipeable mats were provided. 3. The inspector observed that some children had dry nose secretions on their faces and these children did not have their faces cleaned by staff - The following actions and response were submitted by the designated person in charge. Corrective and Preventive Action 1. The garden adjacent to the wobblers room had been now assigned to the wobblers and new age- appropriate equipment resourced. Wobblers now are enjoying daily outdoor time. The downpipe in the small wobbler garden has now been fitted with a new cover, preventing any dirt and spills to go on to the baby garden. 2. The toddlers now have their own individual wipeable placemats to use along their home snacks and cutlery is always available in the room. 3. The staff have been informed that going forward children’s faces must be cleaned regularly and as often as needed when children show symptoms of flu and cold. A new agreement is now ongoing between Muckalee Community Childcare Project and the national early years quality development initiative to undertake a programme of quality development in the service in collaboration with an assigned Early Years Specialist (EYS). The quality development programme is based on a whole setting approach. As part of this agreement, areas of practice with specific quality development goals to be achieved will be agreed and recorded. 1. This document will be reviewed as required. The EYS will work closely with the wobblers and toddlers rooms to create a safe and welcoming environment for children to learn and explore. 2. A new cutlery box and wipeable mats are now being stored in the room to be available for children as need it. 3. To prevent any blockage in the gutters the maintenance man will check the gutters weekly and clean them as need it to prevent water blockage/ spillage in the wobbler garden ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1.The location of a smoking area for staff posed a hazard to the health of the children attending the service, by exposing them to second hand smoke. While observing in the toddler room the inspector could smell cigarette smoke wafting through the window into the Toddler classroom. One of the outdoor areas in the service was directly beside the staff smoking area and in view of staff smoking. The registered provider and deputy designated person in charge agreed to remove this risk without delay. There were some hazards identified in the outdoor play area as follows: 2. A tyre with a concrete filling was located at the bottom of a hill which could potentially injure a child if they were to fall against it. 3.The metal green wire which surrounded and covered the septic tank was loose and lifting on the top. It also had quite sharp edges in places. A child could potentially gain a foothold on the wire fencing, climb it and fall or injure themselves on the sharp edges. As the wire across the top was lifted, it was possible that a child could get into the structure. 4.The rubber tiles in parts of the outdoor play area had separated and lifted in places posing a potential trip hazard. 5.The highchairs in use in the wobbler room were observed by the inspector to pose as a potential injury risk to the children as the children were able to pull off the trays independently and swing them around. Action submitted by the Registered Provider The following response was submitted by the designated person in charge - General Safety: Corrective Actions: 1.The smoking area has now been moved across the car park 2.The concrete tyre has now been removed from the garden 3.The green wires were fitted back properly and assessed by our maintenance man so no loose wires or gaps will present danger to children or staff. 4.All rubber tiles have been assessed and if broken totally removed 5.The old highchairs have now been replaced with 2 new higher chairs Preventive Actions: 1.A new smoking point has been assigned far away from all children and playgrounds to prevent anyone encountering the cigarette smoke and smoking behaviours 2.Going forward all equipment entering our premises outdoor/indoor must be approved by the manager and undertake a risk assessment prior to its use. 3.A new standard timber enclosure will be fitted around the septic tank to prevent any loose wires. This new fence will be 6ft tall and the gate will be always locked to prevent children get into the structure. The fence will be fitted on the 9.11. 2024. 4.All rubber tiles have been assessed and where rubber tiles were not fitted on a hard surface they have been totally removed from that garden and replaced with tree bark to prevent any potential hazards. 5.The 4 highchairs have now replaced with 2 better quality ones. Going forward children won’t be able to pull out the trays of the highchairs as these new highchairs are heavier, taller and avail of lock in system for children’s trays to prevent children from pulling of the trays independently ##### Regulation not named in the report text - (1) On the day of inspection, the designated person in charge was not the named designated person in charge as stated in the service’s registration details - The designated person in charge has submitted the following corrective and preventive actions. Corrective and Preventive Action Corrective Action A change in circumstances (CIC) form was subsequently submitted by the registered provider to the early years registration office on the 04 October 2024 confirming the change of designated person in charge which has been approved. Preventive Action- A new folder has been made with all the information needed for when a new manager takes over the service. All Tusla registration information will be kept under review on ongoing basis by the manager. All changes will be notified in a timely manner to the Early Years Inspectorate and kept on file Found compliant: Regulation 11. #### Inspection of 24 June 2024 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) **Immediate action notice.** During a school age service inspection on the 20 June 2024, an immediate risk regarding the safety of pre-school children was identified in the Toddler room. An Immediate Action Notice (IAN) was issued to the service on 21 June 2024. A written response was received from the service on 23 June 2024 detailing the actions taken to correct and prevent the risk from reoccurring. ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - Safe Sleep: 1. An Immediate Action Notice (IAN) was issued on 21 June 2024 due to an immediate risk regarding the monitoring practices in place for five sleeping children aged 1 -3 years old. At 2.45pm, there were 11 children aged 1-3 years in the Toddler room with 3 adults; 6 of the children were awake while 5 children were asleep. The following was noted; a) At 2.50pm, four children were asleep in the cot room adjoining the toddler room. The cot room temperature was displaying as 22° Celsius. The four children sleeping displayed signs of possible overheating with visible red cheeks and signs of perspiration. The four children slept with cellular blankets and one child wore a chunky jumper too. b) The fifth child aged 2 -3 years was asleep in the care room on a low -level bed covered with a cellular blanket. The child showed signs of perspiration and displayed red cheeks. Action was not taken by the staff until requested by the inspectors. c) A milk bottle was observed beside a child aged 1- 2 years in a cot. This poses a risk of choking. The inspectors requested for immediate actions to reduce the room temperature of the cot room and body temperature of the children. One staff member removed the cellular blankets from the five sleeping children and a fan was placed into the cot room. It was confirmed by a staff member the ventilation system within the cot room had ceased working within the previous 2-3 weeks. The cot room temperature was reduced to 20° Celsius at 3.05pm and 19° Celsius at 3.20pm. 2. On the 24 June 2024, at 3.30pm a child aged 2 years was asleep in the cot room. It was noted actions were taken by the service to reduce the children’s body temperatures and room temperatures while children slept, including a cooling fan in the cot room. However, on the day t he thermometer in the cot room measured at 24° Celsius which exceeds the recommended room temperature of 18-22⁰ Celsius. In response to the immediate action notice, the service did not effectively reduce the room temperature while children slept. 3. On the 20 and 24 June 2024 as per the services safe sleep policy, records were completed by staff for each of the children sleeping on intervals of 10 minutes. However, the records completed were not reflective of the room temperature or skin colour while the children were asleep. The following was noted; a. On 20 June 2024, at 2.45pm the temperature of the cot room and toddler care room was recorded as 20° Celsius on the sleep records for the five sleeping children . The thermometer in place measured the room temperature as 22° Celsius. b. On the 24 June 2024, at 3.30pm while one child aged 2 years was asleep in the cot room, the sleep room temperature was recorded as 22° Celsius. The thermometer in the cot room measured 24° Celsius . The temperature was confirmed by the inspectors with the staff member. c. On 24 June 2024, a room temperature reading was written down by staff while performing sleep checks for a child who slept in the care room. However, staff confirmed to the inspector that a thermometer was not available in the care room at this time and as such it was not possible to determine the temperature. d. The sleep records completed for 20 June 2024 recorded the skin colour of the five sleeping children as normal despite the children showing visible signs of redness which could indicate overheating. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - Safe Sleep: 1. A written response was received from the service detailing the immediate actions taken to correct and prevent the reoccurrence of the monitoring practices while children slept in the Toddler room on 20 June 2024; a) On Thursday [20 June 2024], a fan was placed in the toddler sleeping room to help to cool the room. Three new digital thermometers were ordered to help monitor the room temperature and to prevent the overheating of the cot room. The service contacted a competent person to look at the ventilation system. The service will fix or add a new ventilation into the cot room. Management will monitor the temperatures in the care room and sleep room while children sleep. b) The service will monitor the low -level bed and a new thermometer will be added so the temperature can be monitored properly at all times. The low-level bed has been moved to the opposite side of the room where it is closer to the window to help regulate the room temperature. c) The staff have provided reassurance it won’t happen again in the future. Through the CAPA submission on 11 and 22 July 2024, t he registered provider outlined the actions below have been implemented regarding the monitoring of children during sleep; 1. and 2. The ventilation in the sleeping room is now fixed and fully working. The room temperature was high due to the ventilation swich as it does not allow the vent to work independently of the light swich. The service contacted a competent person and new swich was ordered to create a new individual swich for the ventilation system to be able to leave the fan on as need it even when children are in bed. management will monitor the implementation of the services safe sleep policy, supervision of children policy and behaviour management policy. The service assigned two staff to open the door and window at 7:30am before the toddlers arrive to the service at 8:00am. To support this, management will monitor the toddler room and sleep room every morning and during children’s sleep. 3. New digital room thermometers were installed in the sleeping room and in the room in the proximity of the floor bed, this allows for the room temperature to be seen at any time. A staff meeting was held on 24 June 2024. Staff engaged with Tusla’s QRF course. Staff received the services updated safe sleep policy on the 04 July 2024 and signed to demonstrate they have read them Found compliant: Regulation 11. ### Earlier inspections - 28 March 2024 — Inspection Report · PDF ### Other services in Kilkenny - [Muckalee Community Project CLG](/creche/muckalee-community-project-clg-ballyfoyle-2.md) Ballyfoyle - [Mullinavat Preschool Playgroup](/creche/mullinavat-preschool-playgroup-mullinavat.md) Mullinavat - [Nurture and Grow](/creche/nurture-and-grow-ferrybank.md) Ferrybank - [Smarties Montessori](/creche/smarties-montessori-mullinavat.md) Mullinavat - [The Wishing Well Crèche](/creche/the-wishing-well-creche-ballyragget.md) Ballyragget - [Clever Cats Childcare](/creche/clever-cats-childcare-inistioge.md) Inistioge - [Newmarket Kidz Club](/creche/newmarket-kidz-club-hugginstown.md) Hugginstown - [Thomastown Creche & Montessori](/creche/thomastown-creche-montessori-thomastown.md) Thomastown [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/muckalee-community-project-clg-ballyfoyle/ Fonte: Tusla Early Years Inspectorate Recolha: 2026-09-11