# Rathfarnham Daycare, Dublin 14 — inspection reports and findings > Rathfarnham Daycare (Dublin 14, Co. Dublin): what Tusla inspections found — 5 published inspection(s), non-compliances and the provider's corrective actions. ## Rathfarnham Daycare Sessional · 0 - 6 Years · Dublin 14, Dublin · Tusla ID **TU2015DS029** · 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 10 June 2025 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (2) (d) Police vetting was not available for 1 adult who had lived in a country other than Ireland as adults for a period of more than 6 months. (3) A review of available documentation demonstrated that the procedures specified in paragraph (2) were not carried out prior to 6 adults having access to children. • 5 adults had garda vetting disclosures dated after the persons start date. • 1 adult had references validated after their start date - (2)(d) The adult is no longer present in the service. To ensure compliance and consistency, the service will require that all necessary documentation are in place before accepting any adults including work experience. This includes any police vetting that may be required, as is standard for all staff members joining the team. (3) While the service did delay the start dates for the staff members in question, they acknowledge that clear notes were not recorded in their files. One staff member’s second reference was validated after the start date due to difficulties contacting the referees. This was resolved once the service were able to speak directly with the staff member and confirm the correct contact information. To ensure compliance, the service have amended the new starter form to clearly show both the proposed start date and the actual start date. Additionally, to ensure that references are validated in a timely manner and to make process more transparent, the service have developed a new reference-checking form ##### Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child - Basic needs: 1. A child aged over 1 who was observed by a staff member to wake from their sleep remained in a cot room visibly and audibly upset for ten minutes following their sleep. It is acknowledged that when a different staff member entered the cot room, they lifted the upset child. Children’s transition from sleep should be responded to in an appropriate and timely manner to reduce potential upset and frustration. Physical and material environment: 2. The layout and limited availability of supporting resources in themed areas reduced children’s opportunity to engage in extended play opportunities for children in Toddler room 3 in building 2. • Areas of imaginative play such as the kitchen area, toy washing machine and work bench did not have sufficient supporting resources available for children to engage in meaningful play. • Books were stored in a closed woven basket and were not laid out in an inviting manner to encourage use. 3. In Toddler rooms 3 and 4 in building 2 chairs were stacked and unavailable to children outside of mealtimes. Chairs should be accessible throughout the day to support children engaging comfortably in tabletop activities - 1. All staff have been retrained on service sleep policy. Any staff member covering the sleep rooms has been instructed that if a child is upset or not sleeping, the child must be attended to and lifted in a timely and appropriate manner. The management team will carry out regular spot checks in the sleep rooms and will discuss children's sleep routines during weekly team leader meetings. This will help ensure that all children are supported appropriately and in a timely manner. 2. Following the inspection, the management team and the team leader conducted a review of the toddler room 3. A new room layout was implemented, and additional toys were added to enhance the learning and play areas. The book storage was also reorganised to ensure that books are always accessible to the children. Management provides a toy inventory list to each room on a monthly basis. This allows the service to identify when new resources are needed and assess whether the room layout should be updated to reflect the children's evolving needs. 3. Immediately after the inspection the stacked chairs were unstacked and placed around the children’s tables. Staff were informed not to stack the chairs. The daily room risk assessment has been updated to ensure that all resources are accessible to children throughout the day ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. Chairs were stacked in groups of five in building 2 Toddler room 4 while children were present and playing in the room which posed a potential risk of injury. 2. In building 2 Toddler room 3 a cracked tray with a sharp edge used to store toys was accessible to children and posed a risk of injury. 3. The water temperature of the sink in the care room used for handwashing in building 2 baby room was 47℃ and posed a potential risk of injury. It is acknowledged that temperature reduced to 24℃ later in the day. 4. A nappy changing unit suitable for up to 12 months in building 1 was obserevd in use for children aged over the age two which posed a potential safety risk. Infection Control: 5. The nappy changing unit in building 1 had a foam mat with an additional charging mat placed on top. The bottom mat was observed torn with foam exposed this prevented effective cleaning and posed an infection control risk. 6. A leaking toilet and an extraction vent with a heavy layer of dust which caused a strong odour in sanitary area of building 1 posed an infection control risk. Safe Sleep: 7. A timely record of sleeping children was not maintained for two sleeping children under two years old. The sleep check recorded demonstrated checks had not been recorded for the children between 10.30- 11.00am. The practice and recording of comprehensive and timely physical sleep checks helps provide for children’s safety. 8. A child over two years old in building 1 was not provided with suitable facilities for sleep. Staff informed the inspector that a child who was observed asleep on sofa within a care room had been asleep for twenty-five minutes. This is not in line with service policy which advises children over two needing sleep will be provided with an individual sleep mat or child bed. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - General Safety: 1. Immediately after the inspection the chairs were unstacked and placed around the children’s tables. Staff were informed not to stack the chairs. Management have updated the daily room risk assessment to include the chairs. 2. Following the inspection the tray was removed. They have updated the daily risk assessment and the team leader’s daily risk assessment to include checks on the condition of all storage boxes, with removal when necessary. 3. The water temperature gauge in this room was adjusted to a lower setting, and the correct temperature has been maintained. The team leader for the building regularly checks the temperature to ensure it is maintained at the correct level. 4. The unit was removed, and a new unit was purchased. When purchasing new large equipment for the building, management will ensure it meets the appropriate age requirements. A new risk assessment form has been implemented to support this process. Infection Control: 5. The changing unit and mat have been replaced. Management have updated the daily risk assessment for the changing areas to ensure that changing mats are kept in good condition. 6. When the issue was highlighted by the inspector on the day, on-site maintenance staff promptly cleaned the extraction vent and repaired the leaking toilet. Management have added a section to the daily maintenance checklist to include checks of the toilets and ventilation fans. Safe Sleep: 7. All staff have been retrained on the sleep policy, and anyone covering the sleep rooms has been informed of the importance of completing the paperwork in a timely manner. The Management team will complete spot checks in the sleep rooms and paperwork so they can ensure that sleep checks are being maintained. 8. All staff have been retrained on the sleep policy and reminded that if a child falls asleep in the cozy area, the building team leader should be informed so that a bed can be provided for them. Management have added a spot check to the team leader’s daily risk assessment to identify if any child requires a bed Found compliant: Regulation 11, 25, 26. #### Inspection of 29 October 2024 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) **Immediate action notice.** An immediate action notice was issued to the registered provider on 29 October 2024 in relation to concerns under ##### Regulation 21 — Equipment and materials - (1) The play kitchen units in rooms 1 and 4 of building 3 did not have any supporting resources. Supporting resources enable children to use materials as intended and assist children to have extended engagement in their play experiences - Corrective Action The service has supporting resources for both rooms, it is acknowledged they were not placed by the play kitchens. The layout of both rooms has been changed to ensure a storage unit for the resources is nearby the kitchens. Preventive Action The service has added a section on the room daily risk assessment for staff to check their rooms during the day as well as an additional check by the team leader. Both will check that the rooms have been set up accurately and remind staff to ensure toys are returned to the correct area when tidying up ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. The water temperature of the nappy changing area used by room 1 in building 2 exceeded 50 ℃ and posed a potential risk of scalding. At 11:45am the water temperate of sink one was 54.2 ℃ while sink 2 was 54.7 ℃. An immediate action notice was issued. The following hazards were observed which posed a risk of injury to children: 2. At 10:57am the water temperature of the sink in the baby room of building 2 was 49.7℃. 3. In building 1 room 3 a cracked storage box with a sharp edge used to store toy animals was accessible to children. 4. There was an exposed wire accessible to children in room 1 building 3. 5. There were two trailing flexes accessible to children in room 3 building 3. Infection Control: The procedures in place did not ensure that the risk of cross contamination was reduced to prevent the spread of infection. The following was observed: 6. A child brought a push along walker into a nappy changing area. 7. Children did not wash their hands after returning from play outdoors. 8. After supporting a child with nasal care, a staff member did not wash their hands or the child’s hands. 9. Tyres in the garden of building 3 contained stagnant water. 10. A cushion in the cosy corner of room 1 in building 3 was visibly stained. 11. The carpet and cushions in room 5 building 3 were visibly stained. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - General Safety: 1. Corrective action: The service adjusted the water temperature gauge at 7.30am on Wednesday 30th October and noted that the water temperature was reduced to 26.1℃ /27℃ and 41.8℃ /40.5℃ respectively at 8.00 am. Then monitored the water temperature throughout the day to ensure that the correct temperature was maintained and that it didn’t exceed 43℃ throughout the day. Preventive action: The service will continue to monitor hourly for a period of time to ensure that adjustment is maintained. 2. Corrective action: The water temperature gauge was reduced on the morning of the 30th of October and water temperature was monitored during that day and did not exceeded 43°C. Water temperatures are taken twice daily for all sinks in all our rooms. Preventive action: The service has created a new checklist for the team leaders and managers check the water heater gauges weekly to ensure that they are set at the correct temperature. 3. Corrective action: The box was removed and replaced. Preventive action: The service have added onto the room checklist that all boxes are to be checked and replaced if required. 4. Corrective action: The service has added a section at the bottom of the press to ensure that the children have no opportunity to reach these. Preventive action: The service added a check for wires/flexes to the team leader checklist. 5. Corrective action: The trailing flexes were removed on 30th of October and staff are reminded where to plug in the tablets so that children do not have access to trailing flexes. Preventive action: The service added a check for wires/flexes to the team leader checklist. Infection Control: 6. Corrective action: Management has reminded staff that no push-along toy should be brought into the bathroom. Preventive action: Management has placed a sign outside the changing areas reminding staff not to bring the push along toys into the changing areas. 7. Corrective action: Staff were re-issued with the handwashing policy and procedures. Preventive action: Additional spot checks have been included in the team leader checklist. 8. Corrective action: Staff were re-issued with the handwashing policy and procedures. Preventive action: Additional spot checks have been included in the team leader checklist. 9. Corrective action: The rainwater from the night before was removed by mid-morning by our maintenance person and these are now checked before the children enter the garden. Preventive action: Management has amended the maintenance morning checklist, so the gardens are checked before children go into them to ensure that water from the night before can be removed. 10. Corrective action: The cushions were washed on 30th of October. Each room has a deep cleaning day, and all cushion covers, dress up etc are washed. Preventive action: Management has added to check the cushion covers and place to wash if need regardless of when their deep cleaning day is to the room daily risk assessment. 11. Corrective action: The cushions were cleaned on 30th of October and the carpet was cleaned on 4th of November. Preventive action: Management has added to check the cushion covers and place to wash if need regardless of when their deep cleaning day is to the room daily risk assessment and checking carpet condition and cleaning has been added to the cleaner’s weekly checklist Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 16, 19. ### Earlier inspections - 9 June 2026 — Inspection Report - 11 July 2024 — Change in Circumstance · PDF - 25 September 2023 — Inspection Report · PDF ### Other services in Dublin - [Rathgar Montessori Kindergarten](/creche/rathgar-montessori-kindergarten-dublin-6.md) Dublin 6 - [Rathmichael Montessori School](/creche/rathmichael-montessori-school-shankill.md) Shankill - [Ready Steady Play](/creche/ready-steady-play-dublin-16.md) Dublin 16 - [Réaltaí Beaga](/creche/realtai-beaga-templeogue.md) Templeogue - [Room To Bloom Montessori](/creche/room-to-bloom-montessori-portmarnock.md) Portmarnock - [Sandymount Green Montessori](/creche/sandymount-green-montessori-dublin-4.md) Dublin 4 - [Spraoi Montessori](/creche/spraoi-montessori-lucan.md) Lucan - [The Kids Den ASD Services Limited](/creche/the-kids-den-asd-services-limited-swords.md) Swords - [Barnardos Loughlinstown](/creche/barnardos-loughlinstown-dublin-18.md) Dublin 18 - [Kids Inc Cherrywood](/creche/kids-inc-cherrywood-dublin-18.md) Dublin 18 [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/rathfarnham-daycare-dublin-14/ Fonte: Tusla Early Years Inspectorate Recolha: 2026-09-11