Results 1-19 of 19 for "direct provision" speaker:Kathleen Funchion

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (14 Dec 2023)

Kathleen Funchion: 82. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when he expects to publish the White Paper on ending direct provision; the steps his Department is taking to address some of the recommendations highlighted in the Ombudsman for Children’s report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54565/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (14 Dec 2023)

Kathleen Funchion: ...report of Dr. Niall Muldoon, the Ombudsman for Children. It gives us an opportunity to discuss again some of the recommendations that came up in that report and in the initial White Paper on Ending Direct Provision. Can the Minister give us some more information or any more timelines in that regard?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (14 Dec 2023)

Kathleen Funchion: ..., we really are very lucky to have Dr. Niall Muldoon and his team. When he highlights an issue, he really does it because it needs to be highlighted. As we know, we have so many children living in direct provision, which includes a combination of children who are here as unaccompanied minors. That combination is the most heartbreaking and worrying because, obviously, they do not have an...

Special Report by the Ombudsman for Children on Direct Provision: Motion (30 Nov 2023)

Kathleen Funchion: ...his team and welcome him here this evening to the Public Gallery. This is a really important report which, unfortunately, paints a very depressing childhood for the 5,000-plus children living in direct provision, hotels and emergency reception centres in Ireland right now. I share the concerns that are raised in this report. From our own constituency work, we know about some of the...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (21 Feb 2023)

Kathleen Funchion: .... That Department has a huge amount to deal with and is probably struggling a little with that. Hopefully this discussion will be helpful and we can start to look at how we can broaden it out. Direct provision has been in existence for a long time and many people have campaigned for it to be changed. If anything positive is to emerge from this, maybe it will be to push that whole...

Co-ordination of International Protection Services: Statements (16 Feb 2023)

Kathleen Funchion: .... It is unacceptable and it is feeding into all of that negativity. The Irish Refugee Council highlighted in stark terms the downward trajectory we were heading on, going from the completely broken direct provision system to emergency accommodation to transit centres, where people were sleeping on floor and chairs, to tents and then to no accommodation at all. We recently reached a...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Kathleen Funchion: I understand where the questions are coming from, but the topic of the meeting is specific to Ukraine rather than the wider situation with direct provision and such. The Minister can respond if he wishes but it is not the topic for discussion today.

Ombudsman for Children's Initiative on Eliminating Child Poverty and Child Homelessness: Statements (23 Sep 2021)

Kathleen Funchion: ...by way of pods and the requirement to wear face masks for some pupils. Children in one-parent homes, those experiencing homelessness, persistent poverty and domestic violence, children living in direct provision and young people struggling with addiction and substance abuse have been disproportionately affected by the loss of contact with the outside world. Inequalities already...

Direct Provision: Statements (22 Apr 2021)

Kathleen Funchion: I thank the Minister and the Minister of State. Like my colleagues, I welcome the White Paper on ending direct provision and the steps that must be taken in that regard, especially the recommendations on taking a human rights-based approach. I will focus my comments on the perspective of children and young people in the direct provision system. It has been particularly difficult for them....

Reappointment of the Ombudsman for Children: Motion (3 Feb 2021)

Kathleen Funchion: ...to practise their religions or cultures and speak their own languages, and to be empowered to be the best versions of themselves. The most recent work on life in lockdown for children living in direct provision during the Covid-19 pandemic shows the importance of the independence of the office. There is little doubt that direct provision poses many challenges for children normally,...

Child Poverty: Motion [Private Members] (30 Sep 2020)

Kathleen Funchion: ...part of a child's life. A child cannot go into school and function properly if he or she is hungry, tired or freezing. That is the reality for so many children. There are additional issues in regard to direct provision with children in direct provision not having the same opportunities and likewise children in homeless services, by which I mean not just children living in hotels and bed...

Educational Supports for Children Experiencing Homelessness: Motion [Private Members] (3 Apr 2019)

Kathleen Funchion: ...are able to attend school at all. There are many issues which we need to tackle. A survey carried out by the Irish Primary Principals Network found that the top three challenges for children who are either homeless or living in direct provision are anxiety, family issues and neglect. Homeless students face issues ranging from a lack of confidence, bullying, being singled out and losing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (26 Jun 2018)

Kathleen Funchion: 164. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of providing 100 higher education places for students of returning emigrants or those that came through the direct provision service. [27515/18]

United States Immigration Policy: Motion (20 Jun 2018)

Kathleen Funchion: ...look after and stand up for children in all parts of the world. In that regard, we do not have a good history, given the way we have treated children in this country - Deputy Seán Crowe referred to direct provision centres and the fact that there are children in very difficult circumstances in this as well as other countries - but when it comes to issues in other places such as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Annual Report of Ombudsman for Children 2016: Discussion (16 Jan 2018)

Kathleen Funchion: ...the HSE in this regard - what does the person do? Does he or she come back to the ombudsman time and again? What is the best advice the ombudsman can give? I agree with Dr. Muldoon's comments on direct provision. I believe they are modern day Magdalen laundries, but in a different context. Given this State's history with children it is not good enough for us all to be shocked in ten...

Direct Provision: Statements (30 Mar 2017)

Kathleen Funchion: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue which is of huge concern to many of us here. With good reason, direct provision can be called the Magdalen laundries of our time. I believe it will be the subject of inquiry in years to come. Direct provision centres are often referred to as holding camps and sites of deportability. The Free Legal Advice Centres states that these privately...

Commission of Investigation Announcement on Tuam Mother and Baby Home: Statements (Resumed) (22 Mar 2017)

Kathleen Funchion: ...is absolutely crucial that we acknowledge the familiar attitudes towards the care of vulnerable women and children today. I would like to echo the sentiments expressed by Deputy Boyd Barrett about direct provision in particular. In regard to the current commission of investigation, there must be an end to the compartmentalisation, secrecy and disrespect surrounding the State's handling...

Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters Relative to Disability Service in the South East and Related Matters): Motion (Resumed) (8 Mar 2017)

Kathleen Funchion: ...unimaginably disgusted. In this context, let us not forget that there are modern-day issues such as child homelessness, child poverty, children currently in care with substandard help and children in direct provision, who could all equally be as vulnerable today as those in the past. The direct provision issue is one we must consider very soon because in a number of years we will all...

EU Migration and Refugee Crisis: Statements (28 Apr 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: ...the Naval Service for all the work it has been doing in the past few years in this regard, but we need to see much faster action. I agree with many of the Deputies who have spoken about the direct provision system, but that is not the solution or the answer. We must move away from it towards a model of social integration and be far faster in our response. It is, after all, a...