Results 321-340 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Public Sector Pay (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department was involved in negotiations at the WRC in 2023, in relation to pay for workers of organisations funded by Tusla under Section 56 of the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013 (as amended). In the course of these negotiations, an agreement was reached whereby such funded organisations would receive a funding increase, in three phases. The value of the increase was calculated off...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Public Inquiries (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would like to sympathise with the family of the young girl who lost her life so tragically. The events leading to the tragic death of this young girl have been the subject of court proceedings leading to a settlement by the youth organisation under whose watch they occurred. The organisation in question is a voluntary organisation governed by an independent Board. It receives some of its...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Funding (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: In 2025, the Capital Grant Scheme for Play and Recreation will make €500,000 available for the development of new play and recreation facilities, the refurbishment of existing facilities and the incorporation of natural play elements. Funding is available to all Local Authorities for a project the Local Authority wishes to develop or refurbish, including projects in large urban...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding represents a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme (September 2022-August 2023) rising to €287 million in year 2 (September 2023-August 2024) and €331 million in year 3 (September 2024-August 2025). Data on Core Funding uptake and the Fee Increase Assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Appointments to State Boards (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The President appointed Mr. Liam Herrick as Chief Commissioner to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission on 25 November 2025. No other appointments were made to boards of bodies under the aegis of this Department since 1 November 2024.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Regulations (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The return of deposits is usually governed by local agreement which occurred between the parent/guardian and the service in question. In most instances where a parent/guardian provided a deposit to a Core Funding Partner Service after 1 September 2024, the Partner Service must return this to the parent/ guardian once the child’s registration is approved on the Hive or within four...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Projects (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1205 and 1206 together. As the Deputy is aware, on 22 June 2023, the UCD Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP) published a report, “Protecting Against Predators: A Scoping Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Ireland.’ The report sought to establish the level of awareness of child sexual abuse amongst key...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Projects (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Institutional Burials Act 2022 provides a legislative basis for an intervention whereby the remains of those who died in residential institutions, and who were buried in a manifestly inappropriate manner, may be recovered and re-interred in a respectful and appropriate way. Section 7 of the 2022 Act requires that Government must be satisfied that burials have taken place and must have...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Each year Pobal compiles data on behalf of my Department from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile Survey (EYSP). The most recently published data from the 2022/23 programme year is available at . Data collection for the 2023/24 survey took place between 07 May and 07 June 2024. In total, 4,022 services completed...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would like to thank the Deputy for raising the question regarding the publishing of the Parent Statements for Partner Services. Parents can access Parent Statements for the current programme year through the Childcare Search on the NCS website. Early Learning and Childcare providers provide parents with a copy of their Parents Statement as part of the child registration process....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding is a payment to Partner Services designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management, with associated conditions in relation to fee control and cost transparency, incorporating funding for administration and to support the employment of graduate staff. Partner Services must uphold their contractual obligations regarding their fees charged to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Emergency Accommodation (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 1217, 1225, 1231, 1232, 1233 and 1234 together. Due to the cold weather warnings earlier in the month, as the Deputies are aware, the Department activated its cold weather response plan to enhance safety measures for people seeking international protection. The Department’s cold weather response plan focuses on international protection (IP)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department initially commenced use of the Citywest Conference Centre in March 2022. The Citywest Transit Hub (CWTH) has two separate functions: it acts as a cross-Governmental, single administrative processing point for those fleeing the war in Ukraine; and it provides emergency accommodation international protection applicants on arrival into the State. At no time during the years...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Disability Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: An independent review of the ECCE Programme has recently been completed. The findings from the review are being considered by my Department and will inform any potential changes to the Programme in the future. The current ECCE eligibility criteria were set based on a number of considerations. Firstly, the ECCE programme is a preschool programme based on the National Practice Frameworks -...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: While I try to be helpful at all times in the parliamentary process, the Deputy will be aware that I cannot be involved in individual cases and cannot comment on same. The legislation underpinning the Payment Scheme - the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 - specifically provides for the explicit independence of the Chief Deciding Officer in administering the application...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Housing Provision (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) cannot comment on individual cases. I can reassure the Deputy that IPAS officials are aware of the specific case and the identified needs. However, I wish to reassure the Deputy that the teams in IPAS have a number of protocols and procedures in place for considering applications for transfer in cases of medical priority, where...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Thank you for your question, Deputy. While the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) cannot comment on individual cases, my Department provides a dedicated helpdesk for applicants to ask questions or raise concerns. This can be accessed at any time by email to . At this time, there are approximately 3,200 people seeking international protection who have not been offered...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department was notified on 3 January 2025, of a fire outside this service which resulted in significant damage to the premises. Subsequently, Pobal, the local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) and Tusla, have been providing support to this service with the intention to getting the service operating as soon and as safely as possible. Furthermore, 19 children attending the service...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare is a key Government priority. Considerable investment has taken place in recent years to improve the resourcing, quality and availability of early learning and childcare. The First 5 Strategy aims to support parents to be at home with their children for the whole of their first year. Research suggests that children benefit...