Pobal Compliance Visit

Pobal is contracted, on behalf of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA), to conduct compliance visits with each participating childcare service who operates one or more of the National Childcare Programmes:

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme
Training and Education Childcare (TEC) (Saver) Programme
Community Childcare Subvention Plus (CCSP) (Saver) Programme

The purpose of the Compliance Visit is to verify that:

  • The children who have been registered with the DCYA under one of the childcare programmes are actually enrolled in and attending the service.
  • The service is implementing the correct Fee Payment Policy.
  • The Fee Payment Policy, Parent Letters (where applicable) and Calendars (where applicable) are displayed in the service and that a copy signed by the parent/guardian of each child is on file.
  • Records are maintained of optional extra charges, deposits, voluntary donations and/or fees for additional hours and are in accordance with the Fee Payment Policy of the service.
  • The service can show the qualifications of all staff working directly with children.

Since the 2016/17 cycle, there have been some revisions to the Compliance function, which may have implications for services, i.e.

  • Service outcomes are now categorised as one of four categories:  Compliant; Minor Non-Compliant; Moderate Non-Compliant; Major Non-Compliant.  Services will still be required to sign-off on the compliance findings on the day of the visit, with formal categorisation notification forwarded in due course to the designated primary contact e-mail address on the PIP system.
  • Attendance records must now contain the following information:  Child’s name; Date of attendance; Arrival time; Departure time.
  • CCSP services must now update PIP with details of all “replacement” children as “CCSP Not Funded” registrations.
  • If a service receives a major non-compliant outcome, they can be subject to a 2nd visit with a view to establishing if the issue identified has been rectified.

Appendix 1 in the Compliance Guide for Service Providers for ECCE 2020-2021 and the Compliance Guide for Service Providers for Saver Programmes 2020-2021 contains a checklist for each of the programmes listed above.

To Compliance and Beyond is a very useful resource produced by Dublin City Childcare Committee.  It is a guide for Early Years providers and practitioners to provide information that can support you in achieving compliance with general practice, regulations, health and safety, funding and employment legislation.