Regulation of pre-school childcare services

Pre-school children are children under 6 years of age, who are not attending a primary school or equivalent.

Pre-school services include:

• Pre-schools
• Play groups
• Day nurseries
• Crèches
• Childminders
• Other similar services looking after more than 3 pre-school children

Tusla inspects and regulates pre-school childcare services. It is also responsible for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of pre-school children attending pre-school childcare services.

Legislation

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) has overall responsibility for policy and regulations in this area.

The regulation of pre-school childcare services is set out in the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016.

The regulations describe the standards of health, safety and welfare that must be in place before such services can be provided.

Other key legislation for childcare is the Child Care Act 1991, as amended by the:

• Child and Family Agency Act 2013
• Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Amendments) Regulations 2016
• Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
• Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022

Childcare providers must notify Tusla that they are providing a service.

Pre-school childcare services that must register with Tusla are:

• Sessional services
• Part-time day care
• Full day care
• Childminders caring for more than 3 children
• Pre-school service in a drop-in centre

You can find the Register of Early Years Services on the Tusla website. You can read more about the different types of childcare.

Who does not have to register with Tusla?

Certain pre-school care providers do not have to notify Tusla.

These include:

• A relative of the child or the spouse of such a relative (that is, the brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparent or step-parent of the child)
• If you are caring for one or more pre-school children of the same family and no other children (other than your own) in your own home
• If you are caring for not more than 3 pre-school children from different families (other than your own) in your own home

Pre-school childcare services must meet the standards set out in the Childcare Regulations 2016. Regulations for registered childcare providers include measures around:

• Health, welfare and development of the child
• First aid and medical assistance
• Adult/child and space ratios
• Behaviour management
• Register of pre-school children
• Information for parents
• Premises and facilities
• Safety measures
• Food and drink
• Insurance
• Management and staffing (see ‘Management and staffing of preschool childcare services’ below)

Tusla has published a Quality and Regulatory Framework (QRF), to help childcare services to comply with the 2016 regulations. Tusla is legally obliged to regularly inspect childcare services to check services meet the standards required.

All Tusla registered early years services are inspected and have an inspection report. You can ask for a copy of the latest Tusla inspection report from the registered pre-school childcare service, or you can find all Tusla inspection reports on the Tusla website.

Health, welfare and development of the child

Each child’s learning, development and well-being must be facilitated by the service. The service must provide appropriate:

• Activities and interaction
• Materials and equipment
• Care practices

These should be appropriate based on the child’s age, stage of development, and the number of children attending the service and the nature of their needs.

First aid and medical assistance

There should be a suitably equipped first-aid box for children and arrangements to call emergency medical help. A person trained in first aid for children must be available at all times.

Behaviour management

Anyone providing a pre-school childcare service must ensure that no corporal punishment is inflicted on any child attending the service.

The provider should have written policies and procedures to manage a child’s challenging behaviour and to assist the child to manage their behaviour.

Register of pre-school children

A pre-school childcare provider must keep a register with details of each child attending the service, including:

• Name and date of birth
• Details of any illness, disability, allergy or special need of the child
• Contact numbers for parents and for each child’s doctor
• Written parental consent for appropriate medical treatment of the child in the event of an emergency
• Authorisation for the collection of the child

Information for parents

Parents must be given information about the service, including:

• Details of the person in charge and other staff
• The adult-child ratios
• The age range of the children
• The type of care and facilities offered
• Opening hours and fees
• The policies and procedures the service is required to have and maintain

Premises and facilities

Registered pre-school services (including childminders, drop-in centres, crèches, etc.) and premises must:

• Be of sound and stable structure, suitable for providing pre-school services
• Provide adequate space per child
• Be kept in a proper state of repair, and be kept in a clean and hygienic condition
• Have adequate and suitable furniture, play and work equipment and materials available
• Have adequate and suitable facilities for a pre-school child to rest and to play indoors and outdoors during the day

Buildings must also have suitable and adequate heating, ventilation and lighting and sanitary facilities.

Safety measures

All reasonable measures must be taken to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of a pre-school child attending the service.

Registered childcare providers must have a safety statement and policies including:

• Managing behaviour
• Authorisation to collect children
• Fire safety
• Administration of medication
• Infection control
• Safe sleep

Food and drink

A pre-school service should ensure that food is nutritious and meets with dietary and religious requirements.

DCEDIY has published a guide with nutrition standards for Early Learning and Care Services (pdf). It advises that children in day care for more than 5 hours per session (full day care) should be offered at least 2 snacks and 2 meals, including one hot meal.

Insurance

Pre-school children should be adequately insured against injury while attending the service.

The Childcare Regulations of 2016 also set out rules for how pre-school childcare services are managed and staffed. There must be enough suitable and competent adults working directly with children at all times.

Anyone working with pre-school children must have appropriate qualifications.

If you don’t yet have a qualification, you can apply for a Letter of Temporary Permission to Practice, so long as you:

• Have completed the first year of an approved course, and
• Have completed a practice placement where you worked with children as part of your studies

DCEDIY has published a list of recognised qualifications (pdf) for the purposes of the Department's childcare programmes.

All staff, students and volunteers who have access to any child in a child care service must be Garda vetted. Garda vetting is a process to check if a person working with children and vulnerable adults, or providing services involving access to them, has a criminal record, or any history that might pose a threat to vulnerable people.

Space requirements, and ratios of adults to children

Registered pre-school childcare services should have an appropriate ratio of adults to children, and enough floor space for children, as set out in the regulations.

*When a full day care service also takes children not on a full day basis, sessional service adult numbers apply. The minimum floor area for a sessional service for each child also applies for that session.

You can read about your options when choosing childcare. Tusla has published some tips for parents when choosing a pre-school childcare service.

You can read more about pre-school childcare services on the Tusla website or contact an early years or pre-school inspector in your area for more information.

If you need more information on local childcare services for your child, contact your local City or County Childcare Committee.