Early Childhood Ireland says the government must play their part in ensuring high standards in childcare in Ireland.

The call comes following an article in today's Irish Times which reports that the coalition was warned last year against increasing the maximum number of children per staff in crèches.

The organisation says a more rigorous inspection system needs to be put in place as well as providing additional funding for crèches.

Teresa Heaney, operations officer with Early Childhood Ireland, says they've made a number of calls in relation to improving the services:

“Early Childhood Ireland would have warned the government that it’s not in the best interest of children to increase the ratios, but we would have been saying that alongside also saying they need to make sure there were enough inspectors in place.

“These are all parts of the system that we saw on the program last Tuesday night, and while we welcome the debate we’re still waiting to hear where the additional investment is going to come from.”