Voluntarily and privately run care homes for children should be inspected by HIQA as well as TUSLA, to ensure consistency in standards across the country.

That's the recommendation from the Ombudsman for Children, who found the HSE failed children in residential care homes by allowing them to remain open when it should have known their owners were breaking the law.

Niall Muldoon's investigation, carried out between January 2012 and August 2013, recommended that the inspection of the centres should be transferred to HIQA immediately.