Tusla Early Years Inspectorate

Ireland Childcare Education Tusla Compliance Safeguarding Early Years

Overview

Draft the Safety Statement (Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005) and Child Safeguarding Statement (Children First Act 2015) for creches and early years services in Ireland. The skill aligns with Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate and the Quality and Regulatory Framework (QRF), and includes a validation tool for staff-to-child ratios under Schedule 6 of the Early Years Services Regulations 2016.

Example

You: We need to draft our Safety Statement and Child Safeguarding Statement for the Tusla inspection. We have three rooms: babies 0–1 (6 children, 2 staff), toddlers 1–2 (10 children, 2 staff), and 2–3 year olds (12 children, 2 staff).
Agent: I’ll use the Tusla references and templates to draft both statements. I’ll run validate_staff_ratios on your room data to confirm the ratios meet Schedule 6, then plug the outcome into the Safety Statement. (Produces draft Safety Statement with hazard/risk table and ratio table, and draft Child Safeguarding Statement with the six mandatory procedures and risk-of-harm assessment.)
You: Can you run the ratio check again? We’re thinking of taking two more toddlers in the 1–2 room.
Agent: (Runs validate_staff_ratios with rooms: 0–1 (6 children, 2 staff), 1–2 (12 children, 2 staff), 2–3 (12 children, 2 staff).) The 1–2 room would then have 12 children with 2 staff; Schedule 6 requires 1:5 for that age band, so you need at least 3 staff. I’ll note in the Safety Statement that the 1–2 room must have minimum 3 staff when at full capacity of 12.

Excerpt of a generated document

The agent produces Safety Statements and Child Safeguarding Statements from the skill templates and references. Below is a condensed excerpt of each, plus the validate_staff_ratios report format.

Safety Statement — ratio table and policy (excerpt):

## 3. Staff-to-child ratios

We maintain staff-to-child ratios in line with the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016, Schedule 6.

| Room / area | Age band | Max children per staff | How we ensure compliance |
|-------------|----------|------------------------|----------------------------|
| Baby room   | 0–1      | 1:3                    | Minimum 2 staff when 6 children present |
| Toddler room| 1–2      | 1:5                    | Rota ensures 2 staff for up to 10 children |
| Pre-school  | 2–3      | 1:6                    | 2 staff for up to 12 children; 3rd staff when 13+ |

Child Safeguarding Statement — six procedures (excerpt):

## 4. Mandatory procedures

We have the following procedures in place as required by the Children First Act 2015:

1. **Procedure for managing allegations** against workers or volunteers — [Policy name]; designated person [Name]; Tusla notified as required.
2. **Safe recruitment and selection** — Garda vetting for all staff/volunteers, references, and interview checklist.
3. **Child safeguarding training and information** — All staff complete Tusla-recognised training; this statement and Children First guidance available in [location].
4. **Reporting procedure** — Concerns reported to Tusla and An Garda Síochána in line with Children First; list of mandated persons maintained.
5. **List of mandated persons** — Maintained by [role]; all mandated persons aware of their obligations.
6. **Relevant person** — [Name], [contact details].

validate_staff_ratios report (excerpt — all pass):

======================================================================
Tusla Early Years — Staff-to-Child Ratio Validation
Service type: full_day
Reference: Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regs 2016, Schedule 6
======================================================================

Room 1 — 0-1 years: 6 children, 2 staff (required min: 2 for ratio 1:3) — OK
Room 2 — 1-2 years: 10 children, 2 staff (required min: 2 for ratio 1:5) — OK
Room 3 — 2-3 years: 12 children, 2 staff (required min: 2 for ratio 1:6) — OK

======================================================================
RESULT: All rooms meet the required ratios.
======================================================================

Extension tools and validations

The skill includes one extension tool:

validate_staff_ratios — Validates that each room’s staff and child numbers meet Tusla’s required ratios. You pass an array of rooms (age band, number of children, number of staff) and optional service type (full_day or sessional). The tool reports pass/fail per room and overall.

Validations performed by validate_staff_ratios:

Applicable ratios — Uses Schedule 6 of the Early Years Services Regulations 2016: for full_day care, max children per staff are 3 (0–1), 5 (1–2), 6 (2–3), 8 (3–6); for sessional care, 3 (0–1), 5 (1–2.5), 11 (2.5–6). Age bands 2–3 and 3–6 are supported for both service types.
Per-room check — For each room, computes minimum staff required as ceil(children ÷ max_per_staff) for that age band. Compares with the stated staff count.
Result — Marks each room OK or FAIL. If any room fails, the overall result instructs to add staff or reduce child numbers. The tool does not modify documents; it outputs a plain-text report for the agent to use when drafting or updating the Safety Statement.

Getting Started

Add any existing policies or drafts to the project workspace, then activate the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate skill. The agent will draft or update the two statements and validate staff ratios as needed.