Inspection of 26 February 2026 — Inspection Report
Immediate action notice. decisions about compliance with regulatory requirements. Where the registered provider fails to meet the statutory requirements an escalation process may be commenced.
Immediate action notice. Non-Compliance Information 1. The preschool service did not notify the agency in writing that it was operating the preschool service outside of its registered hours of operation. On the day of inspection, there was documented evidence that early year’s children were attending the early years’ service for longer than the registered 5 hours, from 09:30 to 14:30 for a part-time service. As part of the inspection process, a sample of arrival and departure times of the children and staff were reviewed (in the child/staff attendance record books). On dates from the week of 09/02/26 to the week of 25/02/26, the departure times recorded for the preschool children ranged from 12:30 to 17:20. Nine preschool children were recorded as being collected from the service between 15:30 and 17:20 on dates between the 18/02/26 and the 24/02/26. 2. Six preschool children were recorded as first attending/commencing in the service on 25/08/25. These dates were recorded in both the children’s enrollment records and the child attendance record book, which recorded the children’s date of birth and the daily attendance records, which were made available for inspection. These children commenced as attending the preschool service prior to the registration date of the new part time service which was 24/10/25.
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- (1)(a) The registered provider was the designated person in charge. On the 26/02/2026 there was no assigned deputy person in charge for the preschool service when the early years inspectors arrived. (b) The designated person in charge was not onsite during the morning of the inspection until approximately 10. 55. There were two adults working with the preschool children neither of whom were the deputy person in charge and had no access to the office which contained information required for the inspection. (c) There was no clear management structure in the service that identified the lines of authority and accountability in the service and the specific roles and responsibilities of each employee and unpaid worker. (4) One adult working directly with the preschool children, did not provide evidence of they had acquired one of the following: − A minimum award in Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) at a Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications, in Early Childhood Care and Education or a qualification deemed by the Minister to be equivalent. − An exemption from the qualification requirement and confirmation that the Minister accepts this exemption. It was acknowledged that the registered provider advised that this adult without a childcare qualification or exemption worked pre-dominantly with school aged children
- 1. Evidence was not available that staff had completed their induction training: 2. Three staff members had not signed the declaration that they had read and understood the service policies and procedures to date. It was acknowledged that the staff had a team meeting on the 4/2/2026 and all staff were advised to complete induction training as soon as possible. 3. While documentation was available for staff probation assessments at one and five months, the registered provider advised these will be carried out at one, three, six and nine months. There was no evidence that any probationary assessments ha d been carried out to date on file . In addition , the documentation had a different service name. 4. The service did not comply with their own recruitment policy, which specified the procedure to be followed by the registered provider when hiring employees and unpaid workers, (including the steps to be taken to check qualifications and vetting documentation), prior to the employee commencing
Provider's corrective action:
- The following were acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • There was no roster in place identifying the management structures in operation on the day of inspection, but a staff roster has been implemented since the inspection. The registered provider stated all procedures specified in paragraph (2) will be carried out prior to any person being appointed. • It was stated they will comply with their own recruitment policy going forward
Regulation 10 — Policies, procedures etc. of pre-school service
- The written policies and procedures were not readily available for inspection, the policies were not up to date and accurate, some were available in hard copy in a folder, others were available on the computer. The policies presented were not specific to this part-time service. It was acknowledged that the registered provider stated that management were in the process of reviewing and updating all polices
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • That the policies and procedures were not readily available on the day of the inspection but had all been reviewed and updated
Regulation 11 — Staffing levels
- (1) There were no accurate up to date records/staff roster since the 26/01/2026 to identify if the registered provider had an adequate number of adults working directly with the children attending the pre-school service. (8)(a) The registered provider was unable to provide evidence that there were at least two adults on the premises during the operational hours of the service
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • The staff received a text message at the end of each week with their working hours for the following week, but a staff roster had been implemented since the inspection
Regulation 15 — Record of pre-school child
- (1)(e) The names and contact details of other adults who were authorised to collect children were not available on the 19 records of a Pre School Child (enrolment form) reviewed on the 26/02/2026. (h) Twelve forms did not provide the information by parents indicating which immunisations their children had received. (i) There was no written parental consent for medical treatment of children in the event of an emergency documented on the Record of Pre-school Child (enrolment form). It was acknowledged that a parental consent was provided for the administration of medication if necessary
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • The registered provider acknowledged the records were incomplete on the day of the inspection. The children’s records were updated following the inspection. • The children’s records contained all the required information at the time of the regulatory compliance meetings
Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
- (i) There was no up-to-date staff roster maintained in the part-time service with all staff names documented. The last recorded staff sign in record that was available for review had three staff names dated up to 26/01/2026 and one staff name on record up until the week commencing 23/02/2026. The registered provider advised she does not maintain a roster. The register provider stated to the inspectors that a text was sent to staff each Friday with their hours of work for the following week
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • A weekly staff roster was introduced since the last inspection
Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child
- Each child’s learning, development and well-being were not facilitated with the daily life of the preschool service because: 1. On the day of inspection, there was an overreliance on adult directed play in the Fawn playroom during the morning session. Child directed play (where a child decides and leads the play in a way in which they want) was not observed. One child was observed playing in the home area for a number of minutes, they put a doll into a pram and were bringing the doll for a walk around the room, when a staff member intervened and took the pram and doll away from the child and was heard saying “ You aren’t bringing that doll for a walk, you have to sit down and do a puzzle”. The child sat for a few minutes but eventually returned to the home area and returned to play with the dolls. When asked by the inspector why the child was not allowed to play with the pram, the staff member said they tend to go quickly around the room with it. That was not observed on inspection. 2. The children all sat in the soft seating area for a period (25 minutes) while the transition of sessional children leaving the service and other children arriving was taking place. Two staff members sat with the children. During this time one staff member read a story to a group of 15 children. After a short time, one child was observed getting a different book from the box and proceeded to look at it. The child was called on a number of times to listen to the story. A staff member then removed this book from the child and told them to listen to the story. The inspector asked the staff member who picked the book that was read to the children. Two staff members provided different answers. One staff member said the staff always pick the book and another staff member stated a child picked the book yesterday. 3. The children did not get to decide where they could sit at lunch time. When they returned from washing their hands, a staff member had placed their labelled placemats on the table, which was an indicator of where they should sit. The inspector suggested that the children could decide where they wanted to sit during their mealtimes. The staff member let the children sit where they wanted
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • Staff training had been conducted to implement child led play and more autonomy for children around activities and seating at mealtimes
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- Infection Control: 1. There was no foot pedal operated, airtight and sealable nappy bin in the designated nappy changing area. There was a black lidded hand touch bin. This posed a risk of cross infection and needed to be replaced. 2. The correct nappy changing procedures were not observed during nappy changing. The nappy mat as not wiped down before or after 2 of the 3 procedures observed. The staff hands or the children’s hands were not washed during 2 of the 3 procedures observed. This was at variance with the nappy changing policy that was available on the day and may pose a risk of cross infection. 3. On the day of inspection, the children’s piece of fruit that they received after their main meal was placed directly down on the table, rather than on a plate or bowl and may pose a risk of cross infection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- The following were acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • The nappy disposal bin was replaced with a foot pedalled, airtight and sealable bin. • The nappy changing policy and records for recording nappy changing were revised and staff received training on the revised policies. • Appropriate crockery and cutlery will be used at mealtimes. •
Regulation 24 — Checking in and out and record of attendance
- (1) An accurate record of each preschool child’s attendance was not maintained daily. The attendance books were poorly maintained. Several corrections were noted with a correction fluid and another time/date/name recorded. It was difficult to accurately assess the information. On the day of inspection, an accurate record of the children was not maintained. Only 10 preschool children were recorded in the attendance book labelled “ECCE children”. The remaining 9 registered preschool children were recorded in two other school age registers. Early years children that arrived at the service at approximately 11:30 were not recorded as attending the preschool session. These 9 preschool children were recorded as attending the service until 15:30 and 17:20 on dates between the 18/02/26 and the 24/02/26. This was at variance with the services drop off and collection of children policy where it stated that children’s attendance must be recorded on a daily basis. This posed a risk to both staff and children in the event of an emergency
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • The child attendance record books have been amended. • The service will be using an electronic childcare application going forward from September 2026. Summary Comment The inspectors have reviewed the actions and evidence submitted. The non-compliance identified under regulation 24 has been adequately addressed and will be reviewed at the next inspection
Regulation not named in the report text
- 1. The preschool service did not notify the agency in writing that it was operating the preschool service outside of its registered hours of operation. On the day of inspection, there was documented evidence that early year’s children were attending the early years’ service for longer than the registered 5 hours, from 09:30 to 14:30 for a part-time service. As part of the inspection process, a sample of arrival and departure times of the children and staff were reviewed (in the child/staff attendance record books). On dates from the week of 09/02/26 to the week of 25/02/26, the departure times recorded for the preschool children ranged from 12:30 to 17:20. Nine preschool children were recorded as being collected from the service between 15:30 and 17:20 on dates between the 18/02/26 and the 24/02/26. 2. Six preschool children were recorded as first attending/commencing in the service on 25/08/25. These dates were recorded in both the children’s enrollment records and the child attendance record book, which recorded the children’s date of birth and the daily attendance records, which were made available for inspection. These children commenced as attending the preschool service prior to the registration date of the new part time service which was 24/10/25
Provider's corrective action:
- The following was acknowledged at regulatory compliance meetings on the 01/05/2026 and the 08/05/2026. • The service was operating outside of the registration status prior to the inspection. The service had taken remedial action and committed to operating within their registration status going forward
Found compliant: Regulation 32.