Creche worker pleads guilty to four breaches in regulations

Two toddlers, one aged two and the other 17 months, were found asleep on a high chair and a bean bag when HSE inspectors visited a Limerick creche.

Fiona Doheny, of Tí Na Leannaí, Ballysimon, pleaded guilty to four breaches of creche regulations at Limerick District Court.

HSE inspector Jane Hayes recalled visiting the creche on Feb 27. She came across the two children asleep, one on a bean bag and the other on a high chair.

She said the bean bag and the high chair should not have been used as places on which children would sleep.

There was a third child asleep in a sleeping room which had cots, and this child had a hood over its head. The child also had its shoes on and there were toys and a bottle in the cot.

While the sleeping monitor attached to the child’s cot was on, the receiver to pick up the child’s sounds in another area was not.

While at the creche, a member of staff, in her presence, completed an inspection record, without having carried out the inspection she signed off on.

Another HSE employee, Maria O’Riordan, said they had not been informed of changes in the running of the creche.

In reply to Judge Eugene O’Kelly, she said children at the creche seemed content, and the premises were clean and child-friendly.

Judge O’Kelly agreed to adjourn the case so that he could read a detailed report carried out on behalf of the owner of the creche.

Muiris Gavin, for the HSE, asked for a copy of the report.