Failing creches to lose state funds

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore has confirmed state funding will be cut from creches with failing childcare standards.

The Labour leader also insisted a Government-run internship programme would not be approved for three facilities exposed in an undercover investigation – where secretly-recorded footage showed staff manhandling children, shouting at them, snatching toys from their hands and toddlers strapped in highchairs for hours.