Calls for transparency in childcare
Parents should be shown the results of creche inspections, it was recommended today as it emerged only 21 of 160 childcare facilities in the west of Ireland were fully compliant with regulations.
More than 85% of checks in the Health Services Executive’s western area found premises in breach of some of the rules, including inadequate sanitary facilities or fire procedures, no outdoor play area and toxic materials left within reach of children.
The information, released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, covered annual inspections of services for 10 or more children in Galway, Roscommon and Mayo up to the end of September 2005.
The pre-school childcare regulations cover areas such as fire precautions, staff and child records and ratios, insurance, sanitary conditions and general premises standards.
Following the revelations Martina Murphy, spokeswoman for the National Children’s Nurseries Association, said the organisation recommended its members share inspection results with parents.
“I think that anything that in any way puts the health and safety of children at risk is something which is of concern to everybody.”
But she said: “I think what we have to be very aware of is the context of some reports and looking at the scale, and minor breaches of the regulations as opposed to more serious ones.
“I think for parents the issues are to be very aware in their own scenario and discuss, with their child’s carers, with the operators of the service and the people who are on a daily basis caring for their children, the outcomes of inspections and what are the action plans, what is actually being done to follow up on inspections,” she said.
She said the association would recommend to members they shared information with parents and worked in partnership with them to ensure compliance.
She said many of the 1996 regulations related to the physical conditions of the childcare facilities, and some operators who did not have grants were unable to provide things such as outdoor play areas.
Ms Murphy also told RTÉ Radio that she thought the reporting system should be standardised to make sure all inspectors took factors such as child-development activities into account.
