Parents must be told if their creche is under investigation
Labour childcare spokesperson Seán Sherlock, responding to the revelation that the Minister was aware of complaints about the Hyde and Seek creche has said that there must be a mechanism put in place to inform parents if their creche is under investigation.
Deputy Sherlock said:
“Transparency is key to restoring the confidence of parents in the regulatory regime for creches and childcare facilities. It shouldn’t take an undercover investigation by RTE for parents to find out the truth.
“The latest round of discovery in the issue of childcare regulations show that transparency must be improved drastically for parents in centres under investigation.”
“After RTE Investigates was broadcast in the July there was an impression given from the Department, the Minister, along with Tusla, that this was new information.”
“In fact, as the Committee hearings showed, this information was known in March 2018. What is clear however, is that parents were left in the cold in terms of information lines.”
“There needs to be a mechanism found to ensure that if an investigation is taking place to a certain level, parents should have the right to be informed where Tusla is investigating matters of a serious nature against any childcare facility rather than have to wait for a Primetime programme to give them the info.”