Results 9,441-9,460 of 11,754 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 971 and 972 together. My Department runs a number of Early Learning and Care schemes. The schemes are administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. My Department introduced a number of supports to mitigate against impacts of COVID-19 on the Early Learning and Care and School- Age Childcare Sector in 2020 and has continued to provide supports in 2021....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department operates a number of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) schemes. These schemes are administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. Data captured in a survey administered to all centre-based providers nationally in 2018 as part of the Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare Services provided a breakdown of provider income. That Review found that parental fees...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 978 to 981, inclusive, and 983 together. My Department runs a number of Early Learning and Care schemes. The schemes are administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. The following table shows my Department’s core funding programmes and supports. The table displays the total budget allocation for each programme, as well as the amount drawn down over...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The allocations and draw downs for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) are set out in the table. Year Allocated Draw down 2019 35,500,000 34,290,000 2020 43,000,000 31,900,000 2021 48,330,500 n/a Last autumn I was pleased to announce a €5 million increase in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department developed a National Action Plan for Childminding which was published in April 2021. The Action Plan aims to improve access, through childminding, to high quality and affordable childcare. The Action Plan sets out a pathway over the next 8 years towards regulation, support and subsidies for all paid, non-relative childminders. The Action Plan will involve change and will bring...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The new Tusla online e-learning course for parents titled “Relationships are Key” responds to the demand from parents for easily accessible, online supports. It was developed by the Tusla National Parenting Working group in collaboration with parents. This e-learning course is accessible via computer, mobile phone and other devices. Parents can pick their own topics within the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Applications to the Play and Recreation Capital Grant Scheme are submitted through Local Authorities each year. The aim of the scheme is to provide funding to refurbish existing playgrounds/build new playgrounds. The scheme opened to applications from the LAs on April 1 and closed on April 22. My officials have recently notified the Local Authorities of the amount of funding approved for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Assisted Decision-Making (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is a very important piece of legislation that changes the existing law on capacity from the status approach of the wardship system to a flexible functional approach, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue- and time-specific basis. It will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Funding (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The ongoing management of the organisation referred to by the Deputy is a matter for their Board, including the challenges being presented due to the Covid-19 restrictions. My Department provides substantial funding to this organisation, which plays an important role in providing young people with opportunities for developmental experiences and informal learning. All of the youth funding...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: United Nations (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department made a comprehensive submission to the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 seeking confirmation as to whether Ireland was in a position to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The advice received from the AGO stated that while Ireland is largely compliant with the terms of the Protocol, there are some outstanding issues that...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The HSE is one of five Sponsor Bodies with an agreement with my Department to make sponsored referrals under the National Childcare Scheme. The HSE can sponsor a child under the NCS to enable participation in a childcare service where there is an identified need for childcare as an additional support to the home environment to meet child development needs for a child who is under the age of 4...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The HSE is one of five Sponsor Bodies with an agreement with my Department to make sponsored referrals under the National Childcare Scheme. The HSE can sponsor a child under the NCS to enable participation in a childcare service where there is an identified need for childcare as an additional support to the home environment to meet child development needs for a child who is under the age of 4...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Sponsorship arrangement available within the NCS offers additional supports for families with complex needs. The need for a sponsored referral is a determination for the relevant Sponsor Body and one they make based on the particular need of the child in line with their defined criteria as set out in the Childcare Support Act 2018. The Deputy has asked separate questions about HSE...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme represents the first ever statutory entitlement to financial support for childcare in Ireland. To date, over 56,000 children have benefitted from subsidies under the NCS. Table 1 supplies data on the number of children with a universal or income assessed subsidy application who have claimed against their award for the week ending 31 May 2021. To note that there...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The numbers of children qualified for the CCS and CCSP schemes under band A, band AJ, band B and band D by age in each of the years 2015 to 2020 is provided in an attached spreadsheet supplied by Pobal who are the administrators of the scheme.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department operates a number of early learning and school-age childcare funding schemes, which are administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. These include capital grants schemes for providers. The COVID-19 Capital grant consisted of a once-off capital grant for childcare services and childminders registered with Tusla, or notified to their City or County Childcare Committee. This...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Qualifications (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Figures from the current Pobal Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2018/2019 suggest that in mid-2019 there were 26,882 staff working directly with children in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services, of whom 26.8% held a relevant Level 5 major award. On that basis, to support all staff with a Level 5 award to progress to a Level 6 major award would involve...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Qualifications (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Figures from the Pobal Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2018/2019 suggest that in mid-2019 there were 26,882 staff working directly with children in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services, of whom 41.8% held a relevant Level 6 major award. On that basis, to support 50% of staff with a Level 6 award to progress to at least a Level 7 degree-level qualification...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (15 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Aistear, the national curriculum framework for early childhood, was developed by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA). Since its development 12 years ago it has been used as a tool to support quality on many levels across the range of services that support the learning and care of children from birth to 6 years old. Aistear is relevant to all settings for children from birth...