Groups urge vetting of crèche and preschool workers

CHILDCARE organisations have threatened to stop their participation in a review of childcare regulations unless the new rules enshrine compulsory garda vetting of all crèche and preschool employees.

The National Crèche and Nurseries Association (NCNA) and groups including the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), and Barnardos have all urged mandatory garda vetting be extended to preschool care.

At present, only children at preschools which are fully-run by the health services are guaranteed that their carers have been screened by gardaí.

Few such crèche exist, according to the NCNA, and they tend to cater for children who are deemed to be ‘at risk’ in the home.

Private and community crèche owners can ask prospective employees for permission to run a garda check on them, under the Data Protection Act, but gardaí say this depends on the goodwill of the employee and individual employer responsibility.

Minister for State at the Department of Health Brian Lenihan, last year announced additional resources so everyone working with children could be vetted but the system is not in place yet and such vetting is not compulsory in the preschool sector.

“We want garda regulations enshrined in the regulations as it would strengthen the quality of care being given to children.

“Making it mandatory would also ensure that compliance would be assessed regularly. All of the childcare representatives have warned that we won’t agree to the regulations without this,” said a spokesperson for the NCNA.

The organisation is also calling for all crèche operators to be obliged to register with the local Health Service Executive (HSE).

At present, childcare operations must only ‘notify’ the former health board areas of their operation so the preschool inspectorate can do annual inspections.

“If childcare providers were registered, they could be deregistered or shut down for breach of regulations. They can only be shut down under fire safety and food hygiene grounds. The regulations need more teeth for the sake of the children,” she added.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the department would finalise the extension of childcare vetting in the coming weeks. “This will allow all people working with children to be vetted by the Garda Vetting Unit (GVU).

“The vetting isn’t mandatory but we believe that créche operators have a duty of care to their children which they will exercise,” a spokesman said.

He also added that the childcare regulation review, although due to published in the coming months, was not set in stone yet.