It’s a question that haunts most parents: once you have dropped your child off at a creche or preschool, how can you be sure they’re in a safe, secure and caring environment?
There is, of course, no way of knowing for sure. And last night's Prime Time documentary is likely to cause alarm and anger in equal measure.
But what we do know is this: many of the problems highlighted are symptomatic of broader failures in our early years services.
Caring professionals
No one is claiming that abuse or mistreatment is rife at creches or preschools.
Many are of a very high quality and staffed by caring professionals who play a crucial role in helping children reach their full potential.
But scandals over nursing home care have taught us one thing: where there’s an absence of trained staff, lack of enforcement of standards and a weak inspection regime, mistreatment can flourish.
The emphasis at government level over the past decade or so has been on pouring money into bricks and mortar so as to construct childcare buildings, rather than supporting the delivery of quality early years education.
There are signs that this is changing – but not quickly enough.
We need some urgent changes if we are to build a quality service in which youngsters can flourish.
First, it needs rigorous standards.
We have no shortage of frameworks or blueprints setting out what a quality childcare service should look like.
But too often they are simply pieces of feel-good rhetoric.
Quality framework
For example, Síolta, a national quality framework for early years education was published six years ago, with the aim of guiding the development of early education.
Plenty of services say they are “following it”. But new figures indicate just 3 per cent of childcare services are fully implementing it.
Aistear is the curriculum that guides tuition and it’s considered one of the best in the world, by many childcare experts.
But there are widely shared concerns that, while it’s referenced in many creches, there is a real lack of planning based on children’s abilities, interests and needs across the sector.
Second, quality childcare needs trained staff. Research consistently shows that the positive impact of early years education depends on having a skilled workforce with a low turnover to ensure continuity of care.
But latest figures indicate between 10 and 15 per cent of staff are replaced annually.
These are worrying signs and reflect the fact that it’s regarded by many as a low-wage, low-status occupation.
There are also qualification gaps across the sector.
It is improving, but almost one in four staff members has either low levels of qualifications or none at all.
There is now a requirement in the free preschool year to ensure that all preschool leaders have a certification for a major award in the childcare/ early education.
However, this doesn’t apply to other early years services.
Third, we need an inspection regime that’s robust and measures the real quality of services.
But, again, it’s hugely deficient.
For instance, many parts of the country don’t have any staff member allocated to inspect them.
Some creches report they haven’t been inspected for up to four years.
This is despite official regulations which advise that all preschool facilities should be examined on an annual basis.
Health and safety
The document used by inspectors to assess preschools is heavily tilted on health and safety issues, rather than the key issues that form the basis of a quality service: development, relationships and education planning.
Childcare is seen as a low-wage and low-status occupation.
Increasingly – say many on the ground – those who go on to complete a degree opt to transfer to primary level teaching, where at least there’s the prospect of climbing a career ladder.
We know, increasingly, that early childhood marks the beginning of a child’s life-long learning journey.
But early years education services in Ireland are still in their infancy.
It’s a sector that grew up rapidly over the course of the Celtic Tiger years.
Last night’s documentary is a reminder that there’s a lot of growing up to do before our early years education becomes a service we can all have confidence in.
