Pobal Update: Pobal compliance visits

Unannounced Pobal compliance visits will commence in November 2016 and continue to August 2017.

Compliance visits will comprise checks on records held on site in respect of the following Early Years Programmes i.e.

• Free Pre-school Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme
• Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) Programmes
• Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) Programme
• Community Childcare Subvention (Private) (CCSP) Programme
• Community Childcare Subvention Resettlement / Relocation (CCSR) Programme

It should be noted that some revisions to the Compliance function have been agreed between Pobal and the DCYA for the 2016/17 cycle, which may have implications for your service, for example:

Service outcomes are now categorised as one of four categories: Compliant, Special Advisory, Minor Non-Compliant or 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: Name of the child, Date of attendance, Time of child’s arrival, Time of child’s departure (see Information & FAQ document for further information).

CCS services must now update PIP with details of all “replacement” children as CCS Not Funded registrations.

If a service receives a major non-compliant outcome, they can be subject to a second visit with a view to establishing if the issue identified has been rectified.

Pobal advises services to maintain a Compliance Folder/File which can be made readily available to the Visit Officer on arrival,to ensure minimum disruption and expedite the compliance visit. It is acknowledged that some services file their records in alternative ways, but it should be noted that records must be available to enable the Visit officer to complete the compliance visit in a reasonable timescale. In this regard we request that there is always staff member on site with access to the Compliance Folder / records in the event of an unannounced visit.

Please click here to download the Service Provider File Checklist (also available on PIP Homepage) to assist services in collating the relevant information to meet compliance requirements. Please note that this checklist now contains a separate section for each of the Early Years programmes.

Note: Services operating ECCE only will not be visited outside of the ECCE programme cycle.