The staff file an inspector actually opens

At minimum, a staff file needs identity evidence, a CV or experience record, references and evidence those references were actually validated, vetting, qualification evidence, First Aid Response evidence where applicable, and training and supervision records. Tusla's inspection notebook checks all of this per staff member — identity, experience, vetting, references, qualification, FAR status — which means the real test is "pick five staff files at random," not "does a folder exist for everyone."

References are the item most often present but not actually validated. A reference should be traceable: the date it was checked, who was contacted, how, and what they said — not just a letter the candidate happened to supply. Two written, validated references, including the most recent employer where applicable, is the operating standard worth holding a file to.

Qualifications need the same rigor, especially where a qualification was earned outside Ireland — the certificate plus the recognition or equivalence evidence, not just the certificate on its own, and confirmation it actually meets the current requirement for the role and age group rather than an assumption based on job title.

Bloomffy's staff-credential and reference records exist specifically because this information is naturally repeating and structured, not a single flat field: age/ID verification, CV on file, qualification plus verification, police vetting where it applies, and FAR certification with its expiry date, alongside references stored as individual dated rows rather than a note that says "references checked." A separate training-records table extends the same idea to induction, child protection, first aid, food safety, and fire safety training — some one-time, some with real renewal cycles — because a staff file that's complete on the day someone's hired and silently stale eighteen months later isn't actually complete.