BY KATE HEANEY
THE Chairperson of the Letterkenny Naíonra this week called for "balance" in the way the HSE police the childcare sector.
Ms Cleenagh Kennedy fully accepted that inspections and upgrading of childcare facilities are important and necessary in the interest of children's health and safety.
However, having carried out 40 of the 50 improvements demanded by Health Service Executive (HSE) inspectors at the pre-school's rented premises on the Port Road, there is still a veiled threat of closure hanging over the charitable service.
The Naoínra has successfully provided pre-school care for children in the town for the past 18 years. Its existence contributed towards the creation of the gaelscoil and eventually the gael coláiste.
"We are a registered charity, non-government funded. The fees parents pay for their children go to pay the staff's wages. We just cover our costs, we don't make profit.
"The HSE sent a few reports on things they wanted done. The list of requirements and rules and regulations kept getting longer and now stretch to four pages long. Every time they sent a report they added something extra they wanted done," Ms Kennedy said.
She explained that the premises for the Naoínra was rented from the Baptist Church at a very reasonable rent. The church members themselves use the building at weekends. The Baptist congregation would not be in a financial position to fund some of the improvements requested by the health executive.
"I fully understand that the HSE inspectors have their job to do but it is the way they do it. The attitude of some of the people who have arrived at the door of the Naoínra is quite frightening when the staff are trying to do their normal day's work. It's like bailiffs with a clip board," she said.
They don't acknowledge any of the work that has already been done to comply with the rules and regulations. This has an impact on the morale of all of the staff. They develop a fear that these inspectors will turn up on the door step. "It's not that we have anything to hide," she added.
SAFE AND HAPPY CHILDREN
Ms Kennedy stressed that she did not want to be seen as coming across as a moaner but she said there had to be leeway in how the rules and regulations were implemented.
At the end of the day the facility was there to provide safe and happy care for children from three years. It has been doing this successfully at a modest price for parents since it was first set up in the Glencar sitting room of Maura Concannon.
"I admit that the 12 policies the HSE wanted put in place should have been done by us sooner. The committee of the Naoínra all work full-time themselves but we have now completed the policies.
"The HSE inspector came the Thursday before the mid-term break and told us if the works were not carried out there was a threat of closure. They are very clever when it comes to wording. Over the course of the mid-term break we completed 40 of the 50 things they wanted done."
Ms Kennedy pointed out that a number of the things still to be done were small and gave examples. A piece of skirting board in the hall has to be replaced, a bit of paint peeling at the side of the stairs and linoleum in the front room is slightly away from the skirting board.
"You would want to have feet the size of a flea to trip in the gap. We were told that another report would be sent to people in Sligo and they would be back to see if the work has been carried out to their specifications. It would help if they recommended how they wanted it done.
"I thought it ridiculous that the inspectors insisted there was more than six day's dust on the skirting boards. They arrived on a Thursday and our major cleaning day is Friday when the skirting boards are all cleaned. Do they have some sort of special piece of equipment for measuring the depth of dust on skirting boards?" she said.
Even though the Naoínra is probably the most affordable pre-school care in Letterkenny, the children's safety and happiness have always been paramount.
NO HOT FOOD - NO CARE
Because of demand from parents the Naoínra had began providing full-time care for children over three years from 9.30 am until 4 pm. This meant a total of 34 children were being looked after.
"Perhaps we were a bit naive, we should have checked but just before Christmas the HSE said in order to do full-time we must be able to provide the children with hot food. In order to comply with their requirements we would have to put in stainless steel sink units and carry out other works and we do not have the funding and cannot expect the church to do the work.
"We could get the food from nearby Gleneany House but there are so many rules and regulations governing the temperature checks on the food, on the plates and the fact that it is going from one premises to another. It is no reflection on Gleneany House, it is just the raft of rules and regulations which apply."
The only thing the Naoínra could do was let the 12 children go who needed full time care and go back to running two separate sessions a day. The parents of the 12 had to look for alternative care facilities.
"It is not as if we were running a creche, minding little babies. All of the children who come to us are toilet trained. It is not as if there were sharp objects sticking out of the walls endangering the children. There is an element of common sense needed when inspectors visit premises," Ms Kennedy concluded.
The points expressed by Ms Kennedy were put to the HSE this week for comment. These included the query on flexibility from inspectors and the possible threat of closure, over what appeared to be, very minor issues.
The HSE issued the following response; "Pre-school Inspection is governed by the Child care (Pre-school Services) Regulations 1996 and the Child care (Pre-school Services) (Amendment) Regulations, 1997. These regulations cover both inspection of the care and development of the children, food, record management, and an inspection under a number of headings on the premises and facilities.
All pre-school inspections are based on whether the pre-school service is compliant with the Articles in the regulations or in breach on the day of the inspection. The regulations require the inspection to make findings in relation to each of the Articles.
The HSE statement went on to say that "inspections can be a challenging process, but pre-school inspectors strive to make the experience as unobtrusive as possible for the children.
"It is the function of the inspection process to ensure that the pre-school service is operating to the highest standards in relation to the physical environment and development and care of the children.
"The Pre-school Inspection Service are always available to provide advice on any aspect of the regulations and welcome pre-school services to contact them regarding any queries they may have in relation to the Regulations".
New updated Regulations come into force in September 2007.
