When you bring your child to a creche, preschool or other childcare facility, you rightfully place trust in the carers and assistants to take care of your child and ensure their health and safety while on their premises.
All childcare facilities have a legal duty to ensure the children in their care are supervised and monitored to ensure their safety, as well as a duty to ensure no child suffers serious harm while on their premises. However, there are occasions when a childcare facility will not live up to these standards and will breach their duty of care towards the children in their care. These breaches of care include lack of supervision of children to the extent that a child suffers harm and overcrowding of facilities with children, as well as more serious incidents such as abusive or threatening behaviour, whether physical or verbal, towards a child.
Childcare Legislation
Every person running a creche, preschool, or other childminding service has a duty to comply with the following legislation:
The Child Care Act 1991;
The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016; and
The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Amendments) Regulations 2016.
Childcare Facility Requirements
The above regulations provide, for example, the following:
That every worker in a childcare facility has been Garda vetted
Minimum ratios of adults to children
Minimum floor space requirements in the premises for the work, play and movement of children attending the service
That pre-school children attending the service are always supervised
That records are kept in respect of who is authorised to collect the child, illnesses, disabilities, allergies, and any special needs of the child
That appropriate and suitable care practices are in place in the pre-school service, having regard to the number of children attending the service and the nature of their needs
That there are adequate and suitable facilities for a pre-school child to rest during the day
That a person trained in first aid for children is, at all times, immediately available to the children attending the pre-school service
That adequate and suitable, nutritious and varied food and drink is available to each child attending the pre-school service and
That there is adequate and suitable furniture, play and work equipment and materials available on the premises of the pre-school service.
Our Childcare Negligence Expertise
If you are concerned that your child is attending a pre-school or other childcare facility that does not comply with the above regulations, Lavelle Partners can assist. At the outset, we will listen to the details of the incident and help you to determine if the childcare facility can be held liable in respect of their conduct.
We have assisted numerous clients over the years to successfully bring claims against creches, pre-schools, and other childcare facilities for harm suffered by children as a result of a breach of duty of care.
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