The Child and Family Agency Tusla says it inspected more than 2,000 early years services in 2015.

The body has released its report for the year in which it received 258 complaints and embarked on two prosecutions.

The report outlines the activities of the Inspectorate which is tasked with inspecting pre-schools, play groups, nurseries, crèches, day-care and similar services which cater for children up to six years old.

Brian Lee, Tusla Director of Quality Assurance, said “Tusla, through its Early Years Inspectorate, is the statutory regulator of early years services in Ireland and is responsible for promoting and monitoring the safety and quality of children’s care in early years services in accordance with the Government’s regulations.”

“While we identified a lot of good practice and there were high levels of overall compliance with the regulations, it is clear that there are still some areas that require further attention and improvement on the part of early years services.”