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	Children with access to sharp knives and toxic substances, meals lacking nutritious value and rodent-infested premises are among a litany of areas of &quot;deep concern&quot; in a new report into pre-schools.</p>
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	The report, by the child and family agency Tusla, has also identified a lack of garda vetting of staff.</p>
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	There were a &quot;small number of instances&quot; where inspectors observed staff not engaging with children and &quot;children not being adequately cared for in a way that met their individual needs&quot;.</p>
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	In one case, children had to wear their coats because the room was so cold.</p>
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	The report&#39;s author, Dr Sinead Hanafin, said breaches of staffing and management levels made up almost half of all non-compliance findings. Record keeping was also found to be inferior on a large scale.</p>
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	&quot;Given that the pre-school services were under inspection at the time these incidents were observed, it is clear there are some poor practices taking place, albeit in a small number of settings,&quot; she said.</p>
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	More than 81,000 regulations were inspected in 3,007 facilities between January 2012 and May 2013. Overall there was a compliance rate of 74pc, while just under 14pc were found to be non-compliant. The remaining 12pc were deemed to be either not applicable or not assessed.</p>
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	However, compliance rates differ considerably from region to region, with only a 53pc compliance rate found in HSE Dublin North-East, an area which covers Dublin north, Dublin North-Central, Meath and Cavan-Monaghan.</p>
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	Almost one in four assessments of regulations were non-compliant there. Earlier this year, Independent TD Roisin Shortall revealed a shortage of inspectors was resulting in far fewer inspections compared with other regions.</p>
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	The latest figures show only 477 inspection reports were submitted for the area - less than 16pc of all inspections. HSE West had more than double that figure, with 1,040 reports comprising nearly 35pc of the overall number.</p>
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	HSE South (24.2pc) and HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster (25.3pc) made up the remainder. Tusla director of quality assurance Brian Lee said there were currently 42 inspectors but that this number would be increased.</p>
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	&quot;There&#39;s deficits in some areas. We have identified them and we&#39;re in the process of recruiting new inspectors,&quot; he said, and added eight inspectors would be recruited in addition to four regional inspection managers. He said Dublin North-East was a &quot;priority&quot;.</p>
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	Among the inspected services were full day care and child-minding and drop-in centres - typically found in shopping centres, supermarkets and hotels. Ms Hanafin said inferior conditions in drop-in services were a particular cause for concern.</p>
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	The agency said prosecution proceedings are ongoing in the case of two centres.</p>
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	New powers to be given to Tusla will include imposing conditions and potential closure orders.</p>
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	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/preschool-children-had-access-to-knives-30671028.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/preschool-children-had-access-to-knives-30671028.html</a></p>
