Government inspections on the quality of tuition in creches delivering the free preschool year have revealed significant weaknesses.

According to The Irish Times the inspections carried out by the Department of Education and the Health Service Executive (HSE) into a sample of 15 preschools found weaknesses in the range and quality of activities for children in most of the schools.

A total of 68,000 children aged 3 to 4 - or 95% of those eligible - take part in the preschool year. A number of government ministers recently expressed their support for a possible extension of the preschool year by another year.

The inspection teams found good standards in areas such as personal care and the quality of relationships with children in most of the preschools surveyed. They also found that the physical and material conditions in most preschools was of a high standard.

 Lack of official curriculum

However The Irish Times says the findings over the quality of tuition are likely to cause concern among policymakers because of "the extent to which the programme of activities and its implementation supports the children's development was effective in less than half of the settings observed".

The inspectors also were concern over the lack of planning to implement the official curriculum, and said there was "considerable scope for development" over planned activities that can benefit children's development.

Tuition in creches delivering the free preschool year costs the State €175 million a year.

Teresa Heeney is Chief operations officer with early childhood Ireland. She told Breakfast here on Newstalk that they welcome any inspection of services for children and that parents should not be worried by the report.