Results 6,701-6,720 of 11,745 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am not in a position to speak to the amendments that were ruled out of order. While I cannot accept amendments Nos. 38 and 40, I hope I can provide the Senators with some reassurance in terms of the work we are doing to ensure that the public information campaign is designed in as user-friendly a manner as possible. The Adoption Authority of Ireland has already engaged with the National...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment inserts an explicit reference in section 60 to the international component of the public information campaign. Having listened to Senators' views on this matter on Committee Stage and recognising the importance of the information campaign and that it must reach those living in other jurisdictions, it is appropriate that the primary legislation should reference the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I fully agree with the Senator that everybody should be able to use their rights under the GDPR to make a subject access request. I assure the Senators that the Bill does not restrict in any way a person's right to apply for his or her information through the alternative route of a subject access request. We do restrict GDPR rights in a very limited way in the legislation, as set out in...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: While I understand the spirit in which this amendment has been brought, I am not in a position to accept it. Counselling provisions, as currently drafted within the legislation, allow for the broad spectrum of counselling support to be provided as required and requested by a person, and also allow for more urgent cases to be prioritised. As I flagged on Committee Stage, the National...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose this amendment further to commitments I made on Committee Stage in response to Senator Boyhan’s amendment. A key part of bringing forward any legislation is to provide for a review of the legislation to ensure it operates as intended, is sufficient and is robust. On Report Stage in the Dáil, I brought an amendment to reduce the timeframe for review to two years. This...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Senator Boyhan for his comments and leadership in this area. As he said, this is a significant moment. We are one stage away from passing this legislation and finally and conclusively dealing with the wrongful denial of people's identity rights over many decades in this State. In this legislation, we have finally found a way to provide a right for each person to full and unredacted...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Funding (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, and the invoking of the temporary protection Directive by the European Union shortly afterwards, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis. The operational challenges brought about by responding to the conflict are significant. Our country has never experienced an influx of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: One of my top priorities in Government is to improve affordability of Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) for parents. The package of measures announced in Budget 2022, particularly the Transition Fund and Core Funding, are designed to ensure that fees to parents do not increase and that the full affordability benefits of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are felt...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I was pleased to have secured a Budget 2022 package of €716 million for investment in Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC), a very significant advance on the previous year and designed to begin to introduce major changes to the model of funding the sector. The most substantial new development in Budget 2022 was the introduction of Core Funding. Core Funding...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Deputy, as at 31 May there are 2,387 adults and 891 children, a total of 3,278, who have received leave to remain and continue to reside in direct provision. Please see below for a breakdown of these figures in the format as requested by the Deputy: Length of time with Status Number of People 1 year or less 2,754 1 to 2 years ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Refugee Resettlement Programme (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department currently contracts approximately 6,200 rooms in hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs in use for refugees arriving from Ukraine. This equates to a capacity of approximately 16,300 beds. The Deputy should note that this number only includes rooms in hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs so excludes other accommodation types. Please see the table below for the breakdown by county,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Strategies (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is committed to achieving its vision of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland where people are supported to flourish and to live inclusive, healthy and fulfilling lives, whatever their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. Ireland’s first National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2022 is the primary policy vehicle to achieve this vision....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (15 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, and the invoking of the temporary protection Directive by the European Union shortly afterwards, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis. The operational challenges brought about by responding to the conflict are significant. Our country has never experienced an influx of...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senators for their amendments. I will speak to Nos. 1 and 2 first, then to Nos. 24 and 25. Amendment No. 1 seeks to include illegal adoption in the definition of "adoption". The insertion of these words is not necessary. In any case where an adoption order issued, a person is considered to be an adopted person and therefore a relevant person under the Bill. Amendment No. 2...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I agree with the Government, Senator Higgins and all Senators on the need for full access to all information on vaccines, vaccine trials and medical trials. There is no disagreement on that and it is for that reason that I cannot accept these amendments. They are unnecessary because the legislation before us provides comprehensively for the full release of medical records to an applicant....

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: At no stage would I seek to question the bona fides of any Senator here. Senator Higgins is making it look like I am wishing that this is what is going to happen, crossing my fingers and hoping. The clear reading of these provisions is that it includes all elements of vaccination, including vaccinations and vaccination trials. I accept that there is a difference between those things. A...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Amendment No. 5 seeks to ensure that, where a relevant person had visitors or inquiries made in relation to them, this information will be available to be released, including the name of the person and, where available, their relationship to the relevant person. This amendment comes on the back of intense engagement with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on this issue. It shows that I...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senators for their comments.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The definition of provided items is inclusive and seeks to ensure that a broad range of items can be shared with a relevant person, including items such as letters, mementos, presents or photographs. It is central to ensuring clarity and consistency in facilitating the release of these items. It is important to note that the definition is specific that it covers items left by a genetic...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: With respect to the monitoring of any potential blockages, the implementation group, comprising the Department, Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland, AAI, will be working to understand how the implementation is taking place. We also have the stakeholder reference group that is being brought together. It will include people who were adopted, parents and people who were the subjects of...