Results 7,781-7,800 of 11,754 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My officials in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) have advised me that the person the Deputy refers to has been engaging with the IPAS team.  The person in question was transferred because the centre in which the person was living was closed as part of the process of enduring IPAS's reliance on emergency accommodation. I understand that appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Firstly, I would like to assure you that my officials and I are deeply concerned by the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine. We are monitoring the situation closely and my Department is supporting Ukrainian nationals who come to Ireland seeking international protection. My Department is ready to assist with any coordinated approach developed by the EU to supporting refugees from Ukraine. I am...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding is a new funding stream for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services announced in Budget 2022 and informed by the work of the Expert Group to develop a new funding model for ELC and SAC, outlined in Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare. Core Funding is a payment to providers...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department received completed funding requests under the regular Sustainability Funding streams from three services in 2021. All three were approved. An additional two services had started the assessment process for the Early Intervention funding strand with Pobal, specifically seeking funding to contract an external consultant to provide advice on their business model. These services...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In 'First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families', my Department committed to completing a comprehensive review of the operating model for ELC and SAC. The objective of the Review is to ensure that the operating model is fit for purpose to implement policy relating early learning and childcare to the scale and standards required in an...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment is linked to amendment No. 78, upon which we have already voted and which was defeated. The amendment seeks to include a definition of personal data in the Bill. As we already have a definition of personal data - the definition used in the general data protection regulation - we do not propose to accept a new and different definition of personal data. I do not accept the...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will speak to amendments Nos. 148 to 154, inclusive, collectively. The first issue is around the discussion on the release of records as opposed to information. I seek to reassure Deputies now, as I have on a number of similar amendments previously, that we are not just releasing information; we are releasing copies of the records. This is provided for in relation to birth information,...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will deal with amendment No. 164 separately. My response is the same as that to the previous set of amendments. The Bill provides for copies of records to be supplied to anybody who applies under this legislation. The proposed provision is not necessary because the goal, one that we share, that people get full copies of their records and not just information is already provided for in...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment seeks to give a relevant person his or her medical information even if he or she has not asked for it. When persons apply for information, they can seek birth, care and medical information. There will be a form on which they tick the box on which sort of information they seek. I believe the vast majority of adopted people will seek all information but some may, for whatever...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: All medical information is already available under the provisions of the Bill. Vaccines are covered either under the medical information category or the early life category. The amendment states "When a relevant person applies under sections 11 and 12 for information". Section 11 deals with the "Relevant body to provide early life, care information or incorrect birth registration...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Section 15 covers the release of medical information. It is clear that it covers all elements of such information. When we undertake the information campaign about what material people can apply for under this legislation and particularly when we provide the documentation for people to make an application, we can make it clear what is set out under the categories. We will make it clear...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In terms of the design, I agree. My understanding from the initial work the team has done is that there is an all information box that can be achieved there. The Deputy is correct that there is overlap in the definitions. Throughout all our discussions here I have said that we have designed the definitions expansively. We are keeping them wide so we can take in as much information as...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This section is one of the most significant elements of the Bill. It speaks to one of the key issues raised by adopted people, namely, that they are denied information about their medical history that could be relevant to their health and that this occurs because they do not know who their parents are and they do not know their family medical history. It is very important to remember what...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the definition of "relevant", the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has the power to draft guidelines on the definition. I have spoken about that power previously with regard to securing and ensuring the interpretation given by the bodies applying these provisions is as broad a definition as possible and moving all of these bodies into a culture of...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Children aged under 16 are not directly covered by the Bill. This issue was raised by the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. We have stated that we will, in future, consider the position of children under the age of 16. We have made provision for children aged 16 and 17 to gain access to their information but the Ombudsman for Children is of the view that the younger the child, the...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As I read them, what this group of amendments is seeking to do is to remove the requirement to provide the relevant medical information to the relevant medical practitioner, who will then provide it to the relevant person. I see that as what this set of amendments aims to do. Turning to the Deputy's point concerning consistency in this context, she is right that it is vital and that is...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I want to get these guidelines published as quickly as possible, but I am not sure if it will be possible to have them ready in their entirety before Report Stage. The team has been focused on addressing the significant body of work in front of the committee now. We can look perhaps at getting some draft heads of the guidelines for the committee, or something like that. We will do our best...