Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I am glad she drew on the hearings of the joint committee last July regarding the 37 crèches. Since then, I have received responses to parliamentary questions whereby it appears 595 crèches are on a risk rating register at present. The Minister is correct that this can be for a number of reasons but, at the same time, the concern is that parents are still being kept in the dark. Regardless of the rating - and I concur with her and Tulsa that we do not need to alarm parents - parents have a right to be informed when a service is deemed high or critical risk. Normally when a crèche is deemed high or critical risk, it is because of a regulation relating to fire, overcrowding or ratios. Are the Minister and the Department confident with regard to monitoring risk ratings in Tulsa and the inspectorate regime? Are they happy with how it is being run?

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