Early Childhood Ireland says its creches can go without inspection for up to five years after it was revealed there was just one inspector for 21,000 pre-school children in Dublin North East last year.
The figures from the child and family agency Tusla show show a huge difference in the number of inspectors across Ireland, with the West faring the best with one inspector for 6,000 children.
The figures show that 2,432 inspections were carried out by 42 pre-school inspectors last year - although there were 4,600 facilities.
The information was supplied on foot of a parliamentary question from independent TD Roisin Shortall. She discussed the findings on Newstalk Breakfast earlier today, and said she believes frequent inspections of creches are very important:
Teresea Heeney is Chief Executive of Early Childhood Ireland, and says creches in areas of the east coast can go for up to five years without inspection. The group is calling for more investment for inspections:
