Cork childcare centre had unvetted workers and no place to play outside

Child welfare is being compromised at a creche County Cork VEC broke procurement rules to build.

A HSE inspection at Kiddieland in Ballyellis, Mallow, found the centre breached five different regulations. The personal care and physical environment provided to the children was not compliant with the standards required.

In the play area, the flooring was not safe for the children, and the way toddlers were allowed to roam was hazardous to babies.

During the inspection, a baby was left sleeping in a room for more than an hour unchecked.

The two agency staff, working with the nine babies and toddlers, had not been garda vetted.

The creche also breached regulations by not having a place to play outside, which CCVEC has not had the money to finish.

The low number of children present also corroborated the failure of CCVEC to attract the €296,000 a year in private fees which it calculated would sustain the creche.

The centre, which benefited from a €1m construction grant, has been losing money despite CCVEC’s decision to close its 24-child creche in Fermoy and centralise the service.

Extra money has been required since CCVEC was refused a top-up grant on the €1m it used to open the building in 2010.

Unorthodox funding arrangements, which CCVEC negotiated with a local credit union to fill the €200,000 shortfall, is currently the subject of a Department of Education inquiry.

The arrangement would have seen CCVEC bind itself into a 20-year extension of its lease with the credit union. The credit union bought the site for the VEC in 1996 to house the town’s Youthreach facility.

Audit concerns were raised about the arrangement. CCVEC decided not to draw down the loan and the lease was replaced with a shorter one that cost the committee no extra money.

However, the budget shortfall meant the outdoor areas were not finished.

The lack of an outdoor play area has been high-lighted as a concern by the HSE in three successive inspection reports. It said without a play area outside it was not compliant with regulations.

CCVEC’s acting chief executive, Joan Russell, separately told her committee it was exploring the possibility of bringing in a private operator to run the Youthreach creche.

Before it opened, CCVEC told Pobal it was expected to generate an income of €296,000 from private fees and €44,000 from grants associated with its Youthreach service.

When CCVEC applied for the grant it said there were 10 children catered for in the Youthreach facility and its childcare grant could be transferred to the new building.

With 10 children, it was costing €40,000 a year to run and two staff were in place. In its grant application, CCVEC told Pobal it wanted to expand to cater for 50 children, operate for 52 weeks, and hire 12 full-time staff.

When the HSE inspection team visited there were nine children and two workers.

Ms Russell, CCVEC’s acting chief executive said she would not be in a position to comment until later this week.