Quarter of early years staff short on references
The 2016 annual report for the Early Years Inspectorate shows 78% of providers of early years services were compliant with regulations — up six percentage points compared with the 2015 figure — while 22% of providers were deemed non-compliant.
The report shows the inspectorate carried out 2,008 inspections of early years services in 2016, of which 36 were new services. An analysis of 288 inspection reports was used to gauge the level of compliance, involving preschools, playgroups, nurseries, crèches, day-care and similar services which cater for children aged up to six years.
The report is also likely to highlight shortcomings regarding Garda vetting for staff in some services. It also found that more than one-quarter of providers did not have two valid references for all staff working there.
Meanwhile, the latest Barnardos Waiting List Report shows despite a 9% fall since February, 2,333 children were waiting for mental health services in September.
There was a 20% increase in the number of children waiting longer than one year for their first visit, and in the Kerry/Cork area the number of children waiting for mental health services doubled during the seven month period.
There was a 35.2% fall in the number of children waiting more than a year for speech and language assessment, but an 11% increase in the number of children waiting more than two years for the same service.
