News

Nurseries given more time to adjust for rules

The enforcement of new childcare regulations in Ireland has been postponed until next September because many daycare settings were in breach of new staffing ratios and police vetting procedures were not in place. The decision to put back implementation from January followed representations made by the National Children's Nurseries Association (NCNA) to allow its members more time to make the necessary changes.

The decision to put back implementation from January followed representations made by the National Children's Nurseries Association (NCNA) to allow its members more time to make the necessary changes.

The new regulations stipulated that the adult:child ratio for babies should be one to three, and one to five for children up to the age of six. But the government also set a cap on the number of children in each room, based on a space allocation for each group of children. A baby should have 3.5 square metres and a child under two should have 2.8 square metres, while a two- to three-year-old would have 2.35 square metres.

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