Inspection of 27 January 2026 — Inspection Report
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- (3) A review of documentation demonstrated that appropriate consideration of references took place after the employment of one staff member
Provider's corrective action:
- As this occurred in a transition between HR personnel, it has now been rectified and documented as part of onboarding for any new HR personnel. It is now part of the induction checklist for the Early Years Management team to ensure validation have taken place for any new employee in advance of them starting
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- General Safety: 1. Indoor and outdoor risk assessments for the Sunflower room were not recorded in a timely manner. This posed a risk to children’s safety both indoors and outdoors. 2. Throughout the inspection, the kitchen door remained open. This posed a potential safety risk to children. 3. Damaged sections of flooring in the garden area posed a potential risk of injury to children. Infection Control: 4. Cleaning sheets within the Sunflower room were inadequately recorded which prevented adequate observation and recording of effective cleaning. 5. Exposed foam from the sofa in Buttercup room and nappy changing mat in the Daisy room sanitary area prevented effective cleaning and posed a potential infection control risk. 6. The carpeted area in Daisy room was heavily soiled and stained and required a deep clean to support effective infection control measures. 7. There was no foot pedal bin available in the Daisy room sanitary area for the hygienic disposal of nappies. This is not in line with the Tusla regulatory notice EYI-RN12.1 regarding use of nappy storage and disposal bins in early years services and posed an infection control risk. Safe Sleep: 8. The electronic platform used by the service to record sleeping children was not effectively used on the day of inspection. It was observed at 12:05pm and 14:08pm that a record of a sleeping child’s position, breathing, colour, or time spent asleep was not appropriately filled in. This was at variance with the services policy that states that “the children’s position, breathing, colour and time asleep will be recorded and logged. The practice and recording of c omprehensive physical sleep checks help provide for children’s safety. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- General Safety: 1. A room check in was held within the Sunflower room on the 28th of January to discuss feedback that was given by the inspectors that was specific to the room. The importance of completing risk assessments throughout the day was discussed as this identifies potential risks to the children’s safety both indoors and outdoors. Staff agreed to ensure these are carried out as required and management stated that the paperwork will be regularly checked. An induction pack for new staff members/students was updated which includes the daily risk assessments for indoors and outdoors. Management will outline the importance of these to be completed in a timely manner and will be checked regularly by the Nursery's Health and Safety Officer. This has also been added to our induction checklist where all employees/students sign. 2. A safety gate was acquired and assembled at the kitchen door to ensure that the children can still carry out their daily routine of bringing the fruit into their room and talking to the chef, while continuously being safeguarded. The gate is already placed at the kitchen to eliminate the risk identified during the inspection. A sign has also been made to ensure the gate remains closed at all times and all staff and students were made aware as it is everyone’s responsibility. 3. A cover was acquired and placed over a small pipe containing a water valve in the outdoor garden flooring to eliminate the potential risk of harm to the children. A damaged section that was identified during the inspection was also cut out and replaced with floor tiles. This will be a temporary measure, and we are currently seeking support to resurfacing the garden in the near future . An outdoor maintenance log has been composed to allow staff to record any risks/hazards identified and all staff have been encouraged to record regularly. Management will ensure any maintenance needed, will be flagged with the operations manager in a timely manner to ensure areas/items are repaired.. Infection Control: 4. A room check in was held with the Sunflower room on the 28th of January to discuss feedback that was given by the inspectors that was specific to this room. The importance of completing the cleaning sheets were also discussed, that although cleaning is done on a regular basis staff need to document this for inspection purposes. Staff agreed to ensure these are carried out as required and Management stated the paperwork will be checked regularly. Cleaning sheet templates are included within the induction pack for any new members of staff ang thoroughly read in line with the manger. The importance of documenting in a timely manner will be outlined, and regular checks will be made to ensure that the se are always completed. With a more detailed induction and regular checks will prevent this non -compliance in the future. 5. Each room was given the feedback which identified the non -compliances in that room. Staff were made aware those issues including foam exposure on any wipeable surface posed a risk for infection control. A nappy changing mat was purchased the day of the inspection and was changed by the next day with the damaged one being discarded. A leather patch kit was also bought to cover the tears identified in the inspection. The tears are now fully covered with wipeable material to ensure effective cleaning which eliminated the potential infection control risk. All staff members have been directed not to sit on the children’s furnishings in order to keep the damage to a minimum and ensue that the new patched are well looked after. The nappy changing mat has been addressed, and all staff members have a template w ithin their room to be completes when items/furnishings become damaged. These templates are then given to management to ensure that fixing or replacements are completed in a timely manner. 6. The carpets where in need of a deep clean and a carpet cleaning company was contacted on the 27/01/2026. All carpeted areas in the rooms were professionally cleaned on the 06/02/2026. To prevent any reoccurring non -compliance, we have organised a deep clean of the carpets every august when the service is closed. 7. A foot pedal bin was purchased and placed in the Daisy Room sanitary area for the disposal of nappies to keep in line with Tusla requirements to eliminate the infection control risk. Safe Sleep: 8. The importance of documenting children while sleeping was discussed with the individual room that was observed not recording on the day of inspection. Management reiterated the importance of documenting children’s sleep which includes their position, breathing, colour, dur ation and times the child was checked to ensure safeguarding of the children. Management is checking the little vista app to confirm this is occurring when applicable to ensure children’s safety. The safe sleep policy was updated and discu ssed at a staff meeting on the 06/02/2026. The policy was shared with all staff members it was reiterated the importance of following this policy. It was also stated that checks will be made on the little vista app to confirm records are kept updated to ensure this policy is followed at all times to prevent non – compliance from reoccurring in the future
Regulation 27 — Supervision
- The service did not ensure adequate supervision of the children when an incident which required notification to Tusla occurred. It is acknowledged that on the day of inspection staff members were observed to adequately supervise the children attending the service
Provider's corrective action:
- A meeting was held on Friday 16th January with Manager, Deputy Manager, Director of Service, Family Support Worker, the Grad Lead, Educator and AIM Support worker, to review and reflect on the incident, harness the lessons learned and to discuss the statem ents being implemented . The NOI was also discussed during a staff meeting to ensure the transparency of the service continued and the adaptability of plans necessary in the light of developing risks for children. The robust procedure that was conducted was also outlined for educational purposes to showcase the service following policies & procedures even if that means reporting ourselves to Tusla, only then we can state we do everything in our power to safeguard the children within our service
Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19, 31.