Results 6,321-6,340 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department operates a number of early learning and school-age childcare funding schemes. These schemes are administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. The allocation under the B3 subhead for 2021 amounts to €334.5m. This subhead provides funding for three programmes. - Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) - Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) - Programme Support...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department oversees a Case Management process through which local CCCs and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to early learning and care and school age care services. Where there are financial difficulties that contribute to the issues that services are faced wtih, Sustainability Funding can accessed through Case Management under a number of different strands....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 392 and 393 together. Disaggregated information with regard to the current cost of ECCE provision across to pay and non-pay elements is not currently available. The total cost of provision for the sector as a whole is approximately €900m across registered centred based services which breaks down to an estimated €630m for pay related costs and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In 2019 the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth put in place a National Childminding Coordinator, who is located within the Department, along with 6 Childminding Development Officers, who are located within City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) around the country and who have a regional remit. As part of the implementation of Phase 1 of the National...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Youth Services Grant Scheme (YSGS) provides funding to national voluntary organisations with an interest in youth services or youth work. The 2022 YSGS allocation to the National Youth Organisations for 2022 is €12,886,600. The cost of a 40% increase on the 2022 funding allocation funded under the youth service grant scheme would be €5,154,640 approx. There are 30 national...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Funding allocated to the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme in 2022 was €2.5 million. A 33% increase in funding for this scheme would represent €832,500 approx. Funding under the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme (LYCGS) is provided to Education and Training Boards to manage the development and provision of youth clubs locally. This supports volunteer-led youth club/group activities...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the Family Resource Centre programme which provides funding to 121 centres across the country. My Department allocates core funding for the Family Resource Centre programme which has amounted to some €18m in 2022. Therefore, the estimated cost to increase funding by 20% for the Family Resource Centre programme would be approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Extrapolated data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2020/2021 suggests that in 2021 there were approximately 26,200 staff working directly with children in Early Learning and Care (ELC) services, of whom 24.9% held a relevant Level 5 major award as their highest qualification, i.e. approximately 6,520 staff. Currently the Learner Fund provides a bursary of €750 for staff who...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The 2022 allocated budget for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is €45.55 million. This funding covers the cost of the seven levels of AIM, which encompass a range of both universal and targeted supports for pre-school settings. This funding provides a programme of capital grants for specialised equipment, appliances, assistive technology and/or minor alterations for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is referring to an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have therefore referred the matter to Tusla, and asked that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Asylum Seekers (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: First of all, I would like to assure you that the health and wellbeing of all people who avail of accommodation provided by this Department is of the highest priority to myself and my officials. All services for international protection (IP) applicants are mainstreamed. Applicants access health services through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens, including referrals to medical and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Staff (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: All staff within my Department are paid in line with standard civil service pay scales. A list of these can be found here: .

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 404 and 407 together. The next cycle for UBU Your Place Your Space is due to start on 1 January 2024. This is to be preceded by an area profiling exercise and application process. UBU Your Place Your Space does allow for changes or improvements, as might be expected in a cyclical scheme. However, as regards the underlying policy, no change to the approach...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Staff (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department does not recruit staff directly. The Public Appointments Service recruits all staff for my Department. The agencies under the remit of my Department have been asked to respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Measures (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department is currently working with the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) to implement the commitment for HIQA to monitor International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres against National Standards adopted in 2019 and in effect since the beginning of 2021. Planning is well advanced on this process. My Department is currently engaging with HIQA on resources and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Rights of People with Disabilities (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can inform the Deputy that my Department operates from two building locations, Miesian Plaza and Montague Court, neither of which are owned by my Department. These offices are not open to the public for the purpose of accessing services. In respect of bodies under the aegis of my Department, I can advise the Deputy as follows: Body Location Child and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In Budget 2022, I secured an additional €78m in funding for early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC), bringing the total investment in the sector to €716m in 2022. This will allow my Department to bring forward a substantial and comprehensive package of developments to achieve significant progress on its policy priorities of affordable, high quality,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is assumed the Deputy is referring to the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) as the means through which the cost of childcare is to be reduced. In Budget 2022, I announced an end to the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefiting an estimated 5,000 children from low income families since 2 May 2022. I also announced the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware, the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a Scheme of financial support to help parents with the cost of their childcare. The Scheme comprises two types of subsidies: - A universal subsidyis currently payable for children between the ages of 24 weeks and 36 months (or until the child qualifies for the Early Childhood Care and Education programme if later) who are...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Rights of People with Disabilities (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The organisation the Deputy refers to are members of the new Disability Stakeholder Group and on that basis are involved in the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDISSG), chaired by my Ministerial colleague Minister Rabbitte. The organisation has been represented at the following NDISSG meetings, chaired by Minister Rabbitte: - 14 December 2021 - 29 March 2022 - 13 April...