Mr. Brian Lee:

We conducted 2,500 inspections last year and we analysed those in order to determine compliance rates among providers. I assure members, parents and everyone listening that there is a very good level of compliance among providers. There are, however, limitations with any inspection regime, whether in this sector, the nursing home sector or other sectors. Inspections are snapshots of quality in a service at a particular point in time. As has been stated, rightly, it is for the service provider and staff to provide the best service when an inspection service is not present. Childcare workers in early years services are mandated reporters under the Children First Act 2015 and are required to report any concerns they may have regarding child protection issues to Tusla's social work teams.

I want to be absolutely clear that the level of compliance in the sector is very high. Our overriding operating principle is to drive improvement. Most services engage and co-operate with us and they want to improve. Compliance rates increase significantly when we put in place action plans for improvement after engagement with providers. A service provider deregistered by Tusla will have gone through a series of steps where continuous non-compliance was demonstrated. That is because our overriding principle is to drive improvements in the sector. It is never possible, however, to give a cast-iron guarantee that something like what we are discussing could never happen again. We can significantly reduce the likelihood of it happening by having a robust inspection model and ensuring that people comply with the Children First Act 2015 and the various other quality initiatives mentioned by Ms McNally