R T E Breach of Trust PDTV XviD spinzes avi

Journalists posing as childcare staff secretly recorded footage at three creches – the Links creche in Abington in Dublin, the Giraffe creche in Belarmine, Stepaside, and Little Harvard in Rathnew, Wicklow – which had been found to have broken HSE childcare regulations in the past.

The programme raised serious questions about the weak regulation and inspection regime of creches. Under documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the programme makers found that 75 per cent of pre-schools and creches breached HSE regulations in 2012, but with little, if any, consequence for the organisations.

Gardaí are currently investigating complaints about the alleged mistreatment of children in two creches in Dublin.