The head of the new Child and Family Agency is promising it will be an efficient and effective organisation.

Bringing 4,000 staff at a number of services under its umbrella, the group will have a budget of more than half a billion euro.

Boss Gordon Jeyes says more people are being recruited to ensure regular inspections at Irish creches.

It follows controversy last year over a documentary which raised questions about conditions for children at a number of facilities around the country.

The Child and Family Agency is being launched by the Taoiseach today, and brings a number of child protection bodies into its remit, with a budget of €600-million.

Chief Executive Gordon Jeyes says steps are already being taken to ensure creches around the country are up to scratch, "We are recruiting and have taken out of the so-called moratorium and there is some investment coming, so we will increase the number of inspectors and that will happen during this year. Inspection reports are made available so that consumers choosing to work, choosing to place their children in these institutions, are fully informed about the choices they make."

He told Newstalk's Breakfast the new Child & Family Agency leaves no hiding place: