Either that or it is deliberately careless when it comes to the safety of its youngest guests.

Chief executive John Power contends that the proof of the pudding is in the eating . . . in other words, just because he has never had a reported case of child sex abuse by a hotel babysitter, it doesn't really matter that they are being employed without being vetted or even referenced.

Does he really believe the risk is justified? It is simply unacceptable for Power to be "horrified, concerned and deeply disappointed" but to then contend that he does not believe it is the case that hotels are running inadequate checks on babysitters. The reality is he does not know.

His assurances that the Irish Hotels Federation represents a very responsible industry, with care being exercised by all members as to who they employ, is simply not enough.

There is no system in place to ensure this.

In our investigation, we called hotels of all standards all over the country. Only five out of 100 surveyed informed our fictitious babysitter 'Jenny Roche' that an interview would be required as well as a CV and references.

Almost half of the hotels contacted required only a minimum of personal data, and the vast majority had no official policy or best-practice guidelines in relation to the care of children. Only five hotels employed an official babysitting agency.

Many hotels changed their tune when we identified ourselves as the Sunday Tribune.

But they didn't display a similar level of concern when 'Jenny' called offering her services . . . some put her straight on their list of babysitters without even a face-to-face meeting, let alone references.

Yet Power feels confident enough to state: "Since I've been in this industry, I've never come across a child abuse case in a hotel and the proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Before Soham, a school caretaker had never murdered two children, and before the Ferns clerical sexual abuse scandal, are we to believe that priests didn't rape children?

ISPCC chief Paul Gilligan is right to be alarmed. He correctly points out that if a hotel is running a gym or leisure centre, they wouldn't dream of employing somebody without qualifications.

The notion of offering a babysitting service to parents in hotels without performing even rudimentary checks on the babysitters is disturbing.

While it is incumbent on parents to always check out people who have access to their children, there is also a responsibility on the hotel's part. To abdicate it in the manner our investigation has revealed is bad enough, but to attempt to justify that abdication is even worse.