The Clare Elizabeth Creche is in an Edwardian house on Sidmonton Road, Bray, with a rambling back garden full of fruit trees and gooseberry bushes. On fine days the children play on slides and climbing frames and ride tricycles under the shade of the trees.
The sun is shining when preschool inspectors Noella Gilboy and Catherine Fenton call. They are given a warm, if nervous, welcome. It's been seven months since the last inspection and the recommended changes have been made in the meantime.
Clare Power's creche is typical of many of the creches in the Dublin area, with under 50 children in her care. All the staff are qualified and her monthly wages bill is £8,000. In common with other creches, the pre-school regulations introduced in December 1996 under the Child Care Act 1991 have put its finances on a knife-edge. Clare has just sent a letter out to parents announcing an increase in fees from £73 a week to £90 a week to help meet the extra costs and she fears some parents may not be able to afford it.
All over the Republic, small family-run creches are closing their doors because the new laws insist on higher staff/child ratios and more facilities than they can provide on narrow profit margins. Getting planning for a pre-school is becoming another headache.
The sad thing is that the health board inspectors believe preschools in family homes produce an ideal environment for small children. They say there is an atmosphere in an owner-managed creche in a private house - such as this one - which no amount of high-tech equipment in a purpose-built facility can reproduce.
The business is a labour of love for small creche owners. Many welcomed the introduction of inspections when the regulations came into force in January 1997. They were glad that badly-run establishments would be shut down, for the sake of the children enrolled there.
The worst were closed shortly after the inspections began - because they were completely unsuitable says the EHB. The better pre-schools stretched their budgets and put in the additional staff and facilities required by the new laws.
Almost 2,000 childcare places have been lost throughout the Republic, according to recent figures from the Department of Health and 500 of these were in the EHB area. This is happening at a time when 40 per cent of the 600,000 women in paid employment have children under four.
The two inspectors start their visit with a walk around the house. "We always do this to get a feel for the creche. If there is a happy atmosphere, it's good for the child," explains environmental health officer, Noella. Catherine, a public health nurse, monitors the standard of child development while Noella checks the structure of the creche and fire prevention measures.
The older children are out in the garden, with toddlers playing on soft-fall playmats. The side gate has a double lock only adults can reach. Catherine and Noella count heads, checking there is the correct ratio of staff to children.
All the outdoor play equipment is examined and one old tricycle has to go. The outside toilet facilities (the half door is approved of) and even the family freezer in a Barna shed is opened to check the labels on special food stored for the children.
The inspectors talk to the staff, to get a feel for their commitment and experience. At this creche, all the staff have childcare qualifications but this is not mandatory.
"Do you barrier the children regularly? Where do you get your play sand? Is it kept covered?" Questions focus on child safety. Catherine notices a dip in the garden by the side of the shed and asks for it to be fenced off.
Back inside, the two inspectors keep up a relentless pace. They usually allow a full day for each inspection and the checks are exhaustive. Nothing escapes their notice. Somehow, these inspectors are managing to achieve a balance between being supportive and gently insisting that their way is best. Although smaller than usual, a special case has been made for the Powers's kitchen because it is part of a family house. The place gleams with cleanliness. Cupboards, fridge, oven and microwave are opened and sell-by dates on food checked. Full marks here, although one bottle of antibiotics is out of its box and the fridge temperature a degree or two low.
Catherine looks at the day's menu and discusses the children's diet with Clare. The creche's policy of good plain nursery food is approved of. Meanwhile, Noella is measuring the toddlers' room. Younger children need more space and staff ratios are highest here.
The room size is fine but on the borderline for needing one extra staff member. Clare pales at the thought of an increase in the wages bill.
Another playroom opens onto the garden and is as neat as a pin with the toys stored on shelves. Clare is commended on the selection here - but the room is too tidy.
"The floor should be strewn with toys", says Catherine. With Clare's help, they work out a system of floor-level play areas.
The inspectors hunker down to talk to the children as they progress from room to room. They watch for danger areas such as ill-defined steps and keep an eye on how the staff interact.
There is a noticeable empathy between the inspectors and the owner, stemming from a common interest in the children's welfare. Although anxious to win approval, Clare is proud of her work and knows she runs a good show. Every now and again she argues a point with the inspectors.
The newly installed staff bathroom was recommended on a previous visit and this has taken up most of the creche's profit for the year. Inspectors also check the nappy changing procedure. The temperature of the water in the handbasin is tested and an undersink temperature gauge is recommended. As the Clare Elizabeth Creche expanded, the Montessori and creative play area moved upstairs where a back stairs is kept exclusively as a fire exit. These are large bright rooms and Clare points out the window boxes planted by the children and the impressive range of equipment, some donated by parents.
This area gets the all clear, apart from a torn strip of flooring which Clare says would have been replaced had it not been for the new bathroom. A repair job with tape is agreed as a temporary solution.
The babies' nursery is also on the first floor - a large room with a polished wood floor and a fridge and storage cupboards at one end. Another wall is lined with cots and prams. Six babies are playing on the rug or fast asleep.
Two senior staff look after the babies and make up feeds. Parents are given freshly-made bottles to take home each evening in a cool bag - a gesture the inspectors admire. "Big impersonal creches wouldn't do that," they say, jotting this down on their reports.
Noella has tested all the smoke alarms on her way around. Clare suggests an impromptu fire drill and blows her whistle. The entire creche is evacuated and the children lined up for a roll call within three minutes.
Before they leave, the inspectors look over the creche records. The staff roster shows a helper short during lunch break in the babies' room and Clare has to juggle the staff around. During this time of consultation by the inspectors, ideas are exchanged and Clare can relax.
The main topic for discussion is the difficulty in making ends meet. Everyone agrees that tax relief for childcare and creche improvement grants would make all the difference to smaller, owner-run creches - the type the EHB and parents everywhere would like to see thriving.
Returning to her car after the visit, Noella remarks that Clare Power's creche is one of the finest in the catchment area. She adds: "We would send our own children there and that is the ultimate criteria."