Results 6,001-6,020 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: With the support of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I achieved a €346 million increase in the budget for childcare. In 2023 we will spend more than €1 billion on childcare for the first time ever. That is going to deliver, on average, a 25% cut in fees for parents. Importantly for providers, this also allows us to put more money into core funding. Core...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: To keep the record clear, I have met with seven religious congregations or lay organisations, and the leaders of the Church of Ireland, in seeking a meaningful and significant response from them on redress. Those negotiations are ongoing at present. There has been no conclusion in terms of those engagements. As the Deputy said, yesterday we brought forward the final redress Bill, which...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Ukraine War (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator for raising this important matter in terms of the operation of the pledge process. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, and the activation of the temporary protection directive shortly afterwards, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis. My Department is focused on the immediate, short-term...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Ukraine War (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: An extension of a further six months provides very real certainty to Ukrainians and provides certainty to my Department. We are seeing situations where pledges have ended and people have had to go to Citywest thus requiring us to find new accommodation for them. We will find new accommodation for people but such movement adds to the pressures on the Department. I will certainly look for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Department has secured a landmark €1.025 billion in funding under Budget 2023 for early learning and childcare. This includes additional funding of €121m for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) which has been allocated to reduce average parental co-payments for early learning and childcare by 25%. From 2 January 2023, all families accessing registered early learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early School Leavers (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Participation of children with disabilities in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) universal pre-school programme in mainstream early learning and care services is supported by the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is delivered by my Department. The goal of AIM is to create a more inclusive environment in pre-schools, so all children, regardless of ability, can benefit...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this is an operational matter, the question has been referred to Tusla for their direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Residential services are provided directly by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and also by Private and Voluntary organisations that have been commissioned to do so by the Agency. Tusla uses a mix of these providers and its own directly provided services in order to maximise the availability of placements that are best suited to meet the needs of individual children and young people. Tusla...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this is an operational matter, the question has been referred to Tusla for their direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare is a key Government priority. Since 2015, significant increases in State investment in early learning and childcare has given rise to a substantial growth in the numbers of children participating in these services. Every year, more than 100,000 children participate in the universal pre-school programme (ECCE) and the National...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As I have previously indicated, publication of the Collaborative Forum’s report had to await the publication of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation. For this reason, the Forum's recommendations were initially published and a commitment was given to revisit the question of publication of the full report following the completion of the Commission's work in 2021....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Strategies (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As part of Autism Awareness Month, in April 2021, I announced the Government’s intention to develop an Autism Innovation Strategy. The aim of the Autism Innovation Strategy is to identify bespoke challenges and barriers faced by Autistic and Neurodivergent people across Ireland and to deliver tangible solutions to address those issues. The strategy will focus on specific areas that...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Projects (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Given the very significant challenges facing the housing system in Ireland, the Research and Evaluation Unit (REU) in my Department instigated a project to explore children’s experiences of housing and the consequences of housing issues for child development. This research, which is being conducted under the aegis of the Department’s partnership with the Economic and Social...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the committee for making time available today to consider the Supplementary Estimate for the Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Vote. The Supplementary Estimate is required in respect of a number of subheads across the Vote. Additional funding is required principally to meet the cost pressures occurring due to the extraordinary demands placed on my Department in...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I very much appreciate his acknowledgement of the work the Department has done on the response to the war in Ukraine. It has been done by the staff, not by me, from the assistant secretaries, one of whom is here today, all the way to clerical officers in Citywest working to help people move around the country. Amazing work has been done by the officials in my...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question. On the higher level, when we are opening new accommodation either for Ukrainians or international protection applicants, we engage with the Department of Education and let it know people will be moving into the area in question. The Department now has a sophisticated scheme for identifying the areas in which there is pressure on school places. We engage...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: First, I recognise the amazing work the community in Clondalkin has done in terms of supporting integration and integrating with people who are in direct provision there. We provide those supports. We have a staff member from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, seconded to our Department who works as a key worker for people in international protection to assist them in moving on....

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Okay. Absolutely.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Of course. Absolutely.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised) (12 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Chair knows, the Government has made a decision to create a domestic violence agency. This will take probably about 18 months to two years to establish. Once that is done, policy but also front-line services will be directly the responsibility of that and the role Tusla currently plays in funding refuge services will move out of Tusla and to this agency fully. In the interim,...