Results 9,521-9,540 of 11,754 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (1 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the matter raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, I have referred the question to Tusla for direct response to the Deputy. The Deputy will understand that any reply on this matter will be delayed, in the context of the impact on Tusla of the recent cyber attack on HSE systems. Tusla will be able to advise the Deputy of this...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (1 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this is a matter for the Ombudsman for Children's Office, I have referred the question to that Office for a direct response to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Protected Disclosures (1 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: There have been three Protected Disclosures received by the Department, one in each of the years 2016, 2017 and 2019. No Protected Disclosures have been received in 2021 to date.  The protected disclosures received in the period 2016 – 2021 related to the work of Tusla, the Child & Family Agency, which falls under the aegis of the Department of Children, Equality,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (1 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Tusla Data Management Strategy 2019 – 2022, published on its website, sets out a comprehensive vision for data management and an ambitious road map for the development, promotion and adoption of excellence in Data Management across the Agency. On establishment, Tusla inherited services that operated in environments with limited data maturity and has worked since...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (1 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 483, 484 and 485 together. Tusla was established in 2014 with a challenging remit to bring 19 unique and separate services under one Agency. All Tusla staff have an @tusla email address, the majority of which are hosted on the HSE network under a memorandum of understanding between Tusla and the HSE. The Deputy will be aware of the Agency’s...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (1 Jun 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Many of Tusla systems are hosted on the HSE Network under an Memorandum Of Understanding established in 2014 to provide corporate capacity and capability across a range of shared services. The HSE provide ICT services including responsibility for the security of the hosted environment. Tusla is a data controller and processor under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Domestic Violence (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I strongly disagree with the Deputy's comments on the priority that my Department has placed on this issue. She named a number of individual employers which are bringing in schemes. I absolutely welcome this and commend their work. However, we are looking at a scheme that will be statutorily applicable across all employers. That is a much bigger order of magnitude. It is important we put...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Domestic Violence (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I welcome the opportunity to come before the House to discuss this incredibly important issue. I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising the matter and I acknowledge her own work on it. Since its formation, the Government has made clear that tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a key priority. A range of measures to tackle this has been outlined in the programme for Government....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy's point on choice and location is important. Under the planning codes, when a housing estate of a particular scale is built, there is a requirement to put in childcare places. In my area in Dublin 15, I have been disappointed too often by developers trying to subsequently get the childcare facility rezoned and sell it on for housing units. That is disappointing because we all...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy will be aware that we have set up the process to initiate a joint labour committee to get a wage order in the sector. That will be important. I wrote to the Deputy's party colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, about that. That process has been initiated and we hope it will provide the pay the childcare professionals deserve. We are also working on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 92 together. Accommodation centres are currently subject to regular unannounced inspections by both officials in the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, and by an independent inspectorate company, QTS Limited. These inspections are generally undertaken twice yearly by my officials in IPAS and once yearly by QTS Limited. Inspections...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy stated the importance of getting back to in-person inspections by IPAS officials. As soon as public health restrictions allow for that to take place, it will continue. Services provided on a voluntary basis by the friends of the direct provision groups have been impacted solely because of public health restrictions. Those involved in providing important supports have not been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My key intention in terms of accommodation is to end the use of emergency direct provision centres which are primarily hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. We will be undertaking a round of procurement later on this summer for new accommodation. That will be centred on the idea of own-door and own-room accommodation. Particularly in the context of own-door accommodation, we will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child and Family Agency (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla has absolutely not been forgotten. It has been at the centre of my focus and the Government's focus. I have been to a number of meetings on the Government's wider response to the cyberattack with the Ministers to whom Deputy Whitmore referred, namely, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child and Family Agency (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I do not have current figures relating to the impact on referrals. I will ask Tusla to provide that information to me and I would be happy to pass it on to the Deputy. The Deputy is absolutely right about the impact on Tusla staff. They have really risen to the challenge during the pandemic. I think Tusla was one of the quickest social work agencies in Europe to move to working from...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: First 5, the national ten-year strategy for babies and young children and their families, commits to maintain and extend the supply of high-quality, publicly subsidised early learning and care and childcare to best serve the developmental needs of babies and young children, ensuring that it also reflects the needs and preferences of parents and families. In this context, my Department...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am fully aware of how difficult that life in limbo is for residents, having engaged with individuals living in direct provision and the groups representing them. This is why we have a commitment to have someone on the programme board who has gone through the system and will feed back directly into the work being undertaken. In response to Deputy Ó Cathasaigh's earlier question, I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will start by paying particular tribute to the work that family resource centres have been providing since the outbreak of Covid-19. I was pleased to see some very effective and innovative work undertaken by them in that time. Recently, I met the family resource centre national forum again, and it described at first-hand the surge in demand for these services, and how the centres have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The issue of the specific funding stream for counselling services was one we discussed when I met the representative group three weeks ago. We provided €6 million last year and €6 million this year to support these services. I will continue to examine the matter. I am aware of the importance of the low cost early intervention services they provide, particularly because of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. The funding that comes from my Department through Tusla is fixed and allocated so family resource centres can rely on it. It is always less than family resource centres want and it is less than the need out there but our set of funding is fixed. It is important to remember that family resource centres respond to the needs in their area, so what the Deputy has identified...