A number of children have been withdrawn from the crèches at the centre of the mistreatment controversy and Gardai have launched a criminal investigation into alleged abuse following complaints from parents.

The complaints were made after parents saw undercover footage taken at the crèches. This was aired as part of a Prime Time documentary, A Breach of Trust, last Tuesday. It showed disturbing footage that had secretly been filmed in three crèches - Giraffe in Belarmine in Dublin, Links in Abington in Dublin and Little Harvard in Rathnew in Wicklow.

The footage showed children being shouted at, cursed at, threatened and inappropriately punished, for example in one instance, a young child was locked in a room by herself. Some children were also strapped into chairs for long periods - up to two hours in some cases - with no stimulation. Others were manhandled and held down at naptime.

The programme also revealed that regulations governing crèches are being breached on a regular basis nationwide. HSE inspection reports, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that three in four crèches that had been inspected were in breach of regulations, with almost half of crèches inspected being in breach of staff ratio/staff vetting guidelines. Meanwhile many crèches had not been inspected for long periods.

After watching the footage, some parents of children at the three crèches shown contacted Gardai and a criminal investigation into alleged physical abuse has now begun.

It is understood a number of children have already been removed by their parents from the crèches, although exact figures are not available.

Responding to the programme yesterday, Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, described it as ‘deeply distressing' and insisted that inspection reports of crèches would shortly be made available online. She said that she was working on this issue with the HSE and Early Childhood Ireland, which represents people working in this sector.

Meanwhile the Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, has confirmed that she has requested a meeting with the HSE to discuss her concerns about the ‘adequacy of standards and inspections of childcare providers and related sanctions' for those found in breach of childcare regulations.

"The immediate issue is the safety and security of the children in the crèches featured in the programme. Secondary to the children's safety is to establish whether the incidents included in the programme are isolated incidents or if they are representative of the culture in crèches more generally," she said.

In response to the controversy, children's charity, Barnardos, has compiled information on how to choose a crèche or pre-school for your child. For more information, click here