According to a report in the Sunday Business Post, four different checks for crèches and pre-school operators are soon to be introduced.
The four different checks for crèches and pre-school operators are being introduced by the government in response to a documentary broadcast on RTE´s Prime Time in May 2013 which exposed the alleged mistreatment of children in three childcare facilities.
The controversy that was generated by the broadcast prompted the government to introduce systems intended to guard against a repeat of the alleged abuse, and to resolve the concerns of the European Commission regarding the varying compliance with minimum standards and regulations.
The date for the introduction of the new checks for crèches and pre-school operators has not yet been announced, but they will consist of:
- Inspectors from Tusla – the child and family agency – will check on the standards of health and welfare for crèches and pre-school childcare facilities.
- The Department of Education will hire inspectors to check on the delivery of the early years curriculum for children.
- Thirty education specialists from the Better Start program will assist operators with the delivery of play-based learning for young children.
- Inspectors from Pobal will check the delivery of the free pre-school year on behalf of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
The new checks for crèches and pre-school operators has caused a level of consternation among some in the childcare industry. Teresa Heeney – the Chief Executive of Early Childhood Ireland – told the Sunday Business Post that the level of bureaucracy was overwhelming.
Heeney – who´s organization represents the interests of 3,500 childcare facilities in Ireland said: “What operators cannot tolerate is that these people want it in blue, these people want it in red, and these people want it in white. They all have to agree that green will do for all of them.”
However, children´s minister James Reilly commented that while a robust inspection service was critical, he did not expect it to involve more bureaucracy than was essential. Minister Reilly told the Sunday Business Post that inspectors from different agencies would be using a shared IT system so that they would all have access to the same data on the childcare facilities.
The focus on the childcare sector is set to intensify due to a number of cases being taken by children and their parents against the Links Crèche in Abingdon, Dublin – one of the crèches feature in the Prime Time documentary. There are believed to be twenty-five assault cases taken on behalf of children and another twenty-five breach of contract cases in progress taken on behalf of the children’s´ parents.