Inspection of 21 October 2025 — Inspection Report
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- o Conversation with one staff member showed that this staff member had resided in a country other than Ireland for more than six months as an adult. However, International police vetting was not available. o Police vetting was available for one adult who had resided in a country other than Ireland. However, evidence showed that the adult had continued to reside in the country for 4 years after the date of the police vetting. Police vetting should be obtained after the date on which the person leaves the country to ensure it correctly reflects their status
Provider's corrective action:
- Corrective Action Both team members have since applied for police vetting. One team member has received the police vetting; other team member has received correspondence (31st of October) that the application will be through in twenty working days. Preventive Action The service recruitment policy has been amended to include that during our interview process; management will question the candidates if over 18 years of age if they have resided outside Ireland for more than 6 months consecutively
Regulation 15 — Record of pre-school child
- (1) One of the ten children’s registration records reviewed did not include written parental consent for appropriate medical treatment to be carried out on the child in the event of an emergency. This posed a potential safety risk
Provider's corrective action:
- Corrective Action All registrations for children will not be completed until all details/permissions required have been finalised. Preventive Action The service is in the process of working with electronic application developers to move all registrations to electronic registrations via the service application and registrations cannot be sent to the service unless the regulatory fields are complete, this will remove human error
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- General Safety: 1. A hole was observed on a radiator cover in the back room, with jagged and sharp edges that posed a potential risk of injury to the children. 2. A water tap faucet was observed to be loose and could be pulled up, exposing the hose component. This posed a potential risk of injury. Infection Control: 3. During the morning of the inspection warm running water was not consistently available. Water temperatures were recorded below 14℃ at various times, which did not meet HSPC guidance for infection control protection measures. Children and adults require warm running water, liquid soap and hand paper towels for effective hand hygiene. Staff confirmed that warm water had been available prior to the inspection, and the registered provider arranged a plumber callout when this issue could not be fixed by the maintenance person on the day. Administration of Medication: 4. The service did not have a comprehensive individual medical care plan available for one child with a diagnosed medical condition. Although staff were aware of the child’s medical condition, the medical care did not outline the procedures to follow in the event of a medical emergency. This posed a potential safety risk, as the absence of detailed guidance could hinder the timely and appropriate administration of treatment. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- General Safety: 1. The radiator cover was removed. Radiator temperature is controlled by a thermostat specific to that radiator. Any material not durable will not be used in future, and any damaged equipment will be removed immediately. 2. No long-necked taps will be used. All taps will be close to the surface of the sink to reduce any unnecessary pulling or stress on the tap, this should prevent or minimise further breakages. Infection Control: 3. All hot water was restored by the afternoon, following an issue with the service boiler. Checking water temperatures has been added to the service’s opening checklist, if any reduction in temperature is noted, the team will contact maintenance to resolve the issue. Administration of Medication: 4. Following a meeting with parents all necessary and relevant information was added to the child’s individual care plan. The service will continue to work with parents to ensure that continuity of care involves any new information or amendments to the child’s needs should be communicated to the team/child’s key worker
Found compliant: Regulation 11, 16, 19, 25, 26, 28.