Inspection of 21 January 2025 — Inspection Report
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- Validated, written references were unavailable for three staff
- The registered provider did not take appropriate measures to ensure that all adults were suitable to work in an early years’ service prior to their commencement as outlined below: The registered provider did not ensure that a Garda vetting disclosure was obtained for two adults prior to them commencing work in the service as follows; • One staff member commenced working in the service on 21 October 2024 and Garda vetting was obtained on 6 November 2024. • One staff member commenced working in the service on 12 June 2023 and Garda vetting was obtained on 14 June 2023. Three references in respect of two adults were not validated prior to commencing employment as outlined below. • One staff member commenced employment on 12 June 2023 and two references were validated on 28 June 2023 and 30 June 2023 respectively. • One staff member commenced employment on 22 July 2024 and one reference was validated on 26 July 2024
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was submitted by the Registered Provider 2)(a)(b) Staff members in question references have been validated and put on each staff members file. (3) Recruitment policy revisited. Staff members were not working directly with the children on these dates. The staff were doing their mandatory training and policy reading. All admin staff have reread the recruitment and management regulations and are made aware of these regulations now. Regulation 9 was revied by admins, and all necessary changes were implemented. Admin staff have revisited the recruitment policy and will be more aware of this non-compliance. All references will be validated prior to commencing employment. Attached is our recruitment policy for your attention and signed evidence from the admin staff as proof of staff retraining of the policy. We have also set up a filing system available for the admin staff to clearly see dates for renewals
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- General Safety: 1. While a Garda vetting disclosure was available for one staff member, this was not dated within the previous three years in adherence to the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory Notice ‘EYI-RN12.3 Renewal of Garda Vetting’. 2. Foam blocks in the Sunshine Room and Starlight Room were observed to be broken with pieces torn off posing a choking risk. Infection Control: 3 The outer cover of a couch in the outdoor play area was observed to be torn with foam exposed. It cannot be cleaned effectively and poses a risk of cross contamination. 4. In the sanitary area adjacent to the Rainbow room, the pedal function on the bin was not working. Children were observed lifting the lid of the bin to dispose of paper towel posing a risk of cross contamination. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was submitted by the registered provider: General safety 1 Staff in question had garda vetting renewed. General safety 2 Foam block in sunshine room and starlight room removed. General safety 1 New garda vetting list created for Admin to monitor all re-vetting. General safety 2 Regulation 19 was given to H&S Officer, who read it, put it in her Health & Safety Statements & Risk Assessments folder to coincide with this every month by doing her monthly safety audit. This will ensure all equipment is monitored more closely. Infection Control: The following was submitted by the registered provider Infection Control Sofa was removed from the garden New pedal bin installed. Children observed using the new pedal bin to avoid contamination. Regulation 19 was given to H&S Officer, who read it, put it in her Health & Safety Statements & Risk Assessments folder to coincide with this every month by doing her monthly safety audit
Found compliant: Regulation 11, 16, 19, 25, 26.