Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is an interesting question. It varies from country to country. In some services we have a higher rate of inspection, for example, than in the United Kingdom, which has a rolling system of inspections over 18 months to two years. If there is a problem in a service the inspectors go back in to check that improvements have been made, and there can be more than one visit in certain services. As we have these services registered - they now must register - every service will be registered in the timeframe we have outlined.

In terms of the working model for the numbers of inspections, given that there are 4,500 child care services, one inspection a year is probably not to be expected, but there would be rolling inspections. If there were any particular difficulties there would be extra inspections, or certainly inspectors would go back if there were complaints from parents or if any concerns were noted in a given area. There are also the local child care committees, which should have a good experience of the state of services in their area and, if there are particular concerns, can draw attention to them.

We are at an advanced stage of recruiting five additional inspectors in areas where gaps have been identified - that is, Louth, Dublin south-east, east Wicklow, Cavan-Monaghan, Sligo-Leitrim and west Cavan. There is a budgetary allocation of €500,000 in 2014 to further increase staffing levels to strengthen the preschool inspection scheme. As these inspectors are put in place we will be in a better position to examine how frequently the services can be inspected. That will be a more realistic assessment than has been possible up to now.

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