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

It is happening right now. Mr. Jeyes is establishing a national approach to inspection which will give him the opportunity to redeploy staff to areas where they are needed. I have spoken to him directly about that.

I also want to see greater attention being paid to risk information in judging the timing of inspections. If complaints have been made about a service, inspectors need to return to it and follow up. Providers that have very good reputations and track records have been examined, and are meeting the children's needs and working effectively. They may not require as much inspection as those where problems have been identified. Some services need to be followed up repeatedly in order that problems are dealt with. We need a basic inspectorate available at all times.

Issues have been raised regarding prosecution of providers. The preschool regulations set out a range of requirements for providers. The inspection process draws attention to areas requiring improvement. There is a very important difference between non-compliance with the regulations and serious incidents which warrant prosecution or closure. We have to be clear about that.

High standards are expected from services and, as in many other areas, few services are found to be fully compliant with the regulations and inspections. Services are expected to rectify faults immediately. As a result, ECCE funding is withdrawn from services only where there are serious non-compliance issues. To cease funding to ECCE services on minor grounds would not be appropriate, would cause disruption for children and parents and would not be the right thing to do.

Where there are serious breaches of the regulations, providers are prosecuted. We need robust prosecution of providers that do not address failings, as in any other area.