Inspection Tools and Templates

Inspection of Early Years Services

The inspection of Early Years Services in Ireland is governed by two key pieces of legislation –

• Child Care Act 1991, Section 58 as amended by Part 12 of the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013
• Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 (S.1. 221 of 2016)

The Early Years Inspectorate is legally obliged to ensure that inspections are carried out regularly and with appropriate frequency in early years services in order to verify that the relevant requirements of the appropriate legislation are adhered to in full. Inspections are carried out by eight regional teams and are coordinated and managed nationally. Inspections cover four key areas; Governance, the Health Welfare & Development of Children, Safety and Premises & Facilities. At different times the focus and timings of inspection may change.

An example of a Template Inspection Notebook and an Inspection Report can be found below:

Tusla Regulatory Inspection Notebook and Report
English	Irish	English	Irish

Response to Statutory Notice

If an Improvement or Immediate Action Notice is served on the Registered Provider of an Early Years Service or the Person in Charge, it will clearly set out the issue of concern, will require that action is taken and will state the timeframe for the completion of the required action(s).

It is the responsibility of the Registered Provider to determine the appropriate actions required to address the issue of concern, and to then implement the required action(s) within the timeframe given in the Notice.

Once the action plan is developed and implemented in the service, a written response will be required on a Response to Statutory Notice form. In cases where more than one Notice is served on inspection,  a separate Response to Statutory Notice form should be submitted to each Notice.

Note: The Notice is not subject to the Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) process, as it is responded to through the Response to Statutory Notice Form.

The Response to Statutory Notice form allows the Registered Provider to set out the corrective and protective actions they have/are taking to address the issue identified on the statutory Notice and will contain information on how to submit the form.

Once submitted, the response will be assessed by the Inspector to determine if the actions taken are acceptable to address the issue specified in the notice.

Additional information on statutory Notice’s and guidance on how to complete the form can be found here.

Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA)

The Corrective and Preventive Action process is an opportunity for the service to respond to the inspection report detailing the corrective actions and preventive Actions (CAPA) undertaken to address non-compliance identified in the draft Inspection Report. The corrective and preventive actions are the defined actions necessary for the registered provider to take in order to meet the regulatory requirements.  There are two components to the Corrective Actions and Preventive Actions (CAPA) Form.

Guidance Information on completing the CAPA form with a sample CAPA can be found below to assist in completion. You can also access a eLearning course on the eLearning section of our website.

CAPA form
CAPA Guidance

Inspection Findings Review

Inspection Findings Review refers to the process applied if the registered provider disagrees with inspection findings as per the draft inspection report. 

If a registered provider wishes to request an Inspection Findings Review, they must complete the Inspection Findings Review Form, with evidence provided where possible and within the following timeframes:

• Review 1: Make the submission within 10 working days from issue of draft inspection report 
• Review 2: If the registered provider is unhappy with the outcome of Review 1, they have 5 working days from issue of Review 1 outcome to submit a request for review 2.

Guidance documents have been developed to explain the process to providers and are available below along with a webinar on the process. You can also download the Inspection Findings Review Form. 

A request for an Inspection Findings Review must be sent to eyi.ifr@tusla.ie. 

Inspection Findings Review Form
Guidance Document: Inspection Findings Review Process
Guidance Document: Inspection Findings Review Process – One Page
Webinar on the Inspection Findings Review process

Factual Accuracy Review

Factual accuracy refers to an error in the draft inspection report, for example: number of staff members, date of inspection.

If a registered provider wishes to request a Factual Accuracy Review, they must complete the Factual Accuracy Review Form, and submit the completed form within 10 working days from issue of draft inspection report.

A request for a Factual Accuracy Review must be sent to the lead inspector who carried out the inspection to which the factual inaccuracy relates to. You can also download the Request for Factual Accuracy Review form below 

Request for Factual Accuracy Review
Factual Accuracy Guidance Document for Registered Providers