Results 10,301-10,320 of 11,802 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am very much aware of the needs of survivors who are living outside the country. Some moved subsequently and some are out of the country as a result of the adoption practices that the Deputy described. Some of these groups are represented on the collaborative forum. At our latest meeting, we specifically discussed issues with regard to survivors living outside the country. I will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Senator is correct that time is of the essence. It is something that survivors have brought home to me with regard to being able to avail of the enhanced medical card or any sort of recognition scheme, and also the time to get the information that will be so valuable to them, which is why we all need to work swiftly together. I want to work with this committee on the information and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator. She has flagged up the concerns about the operation of the confidential committee and my own reflection, having looked at the report, is that there are questions about the appropriateness of trying to accommodate an investigative, judicial process and a truth-telling process in one inquiry. The difficulties of that have become apparent. The Senator asked about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Senator raised one important point about what comes over to my Department that I might address at the end.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator. To respond to Senator Higgins on her question about the availability of the hard drives and everything, the full server is being transferred to the Department so my understanding is that all the electronic information will be transferred as part of the archive and will lie within the archive. I cannot speak to the availability of the members of the commission or staff...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator. We all agree about the failure of language and tone. When I first read the mother and baby homes report, I focused on the confidential committee. If one takes away the executive summary, the level of hurt and trauma that emerges from the confidential committee will always stick with me when I think of the report. It is the stories I read there that chilled us, as they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am always happy to come to this committee or provide a written update. I find it beneficial to come to this committee for the range of experience and expertise that it has. However, I am happy to provide written reports. I have, on this point, provided detailed reference and I am always happy to engage with the Chair on issues. I think the Deputy is right that the committee has a role...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I have written to the commission to ascertain that and we received a response this afternoon. It is the commission's view that those tapes are not retrievable.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As for contact being made with the 550 individuals who gave personal accounts, that is being conducted by the commission and it has a statutory duty under the legislation we passed to contact all 550 people. I might pass to Ms McGarrigle to add further detail.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As I stated in my reply to the Deputy's parliamentary question, I wrote to the commission. It was a technical inquiry about whether the information could be retrieved. As I noted in response to one of the Senators, the commission replied today, stating that it did not believe that the material can be retrieved. I have no basis to say that answer was provided to me in bad faith and I assume...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I share the passion of committee members for bringing about a resolution of these issues. I want to work with them and was very happy to come in today to engage with them on these issues. I have engaged a lot in the Dáil and I will take a third Seanad debate later this week as well as private sessions with this committee. I have no problem with any of that. I am glad to do it because...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Programme for Government contains a commitment to ending the Direct Provision system and replacing it with a new International Protection accommodation policy, centred on a not-for-profit approach. The Government has also committed to the development of a White Paper which will set out how this new system will be structured and the steps to achieving it. My Department is currently...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am aware of the incident in the accommodation centre referred to by the Deputy which I understand has now ended. The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) of my Department worked closely with the accommodation centre staff, relevant state agencies and other service providers with regard to the resident’s needs and situation for the duration of the incident. Such...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for informing me of this matter, which my Department will investigate with the printing company and distributor. In the meantime, my Department would be happy to arrange for the report to be collected and another supplied if the individual concerned wishes to contact my Department. The contractual agreement in place with the printing company is for the 3000 page report...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I understand the Deputy’s wish to assist in her role as a public representative. In line with the public notice issued in this regard, my officials are arranging the issuing of hard copies of the Commission's report to survivors that have requested these directly from my Department. There is a large demand for these copies and we are working to meet this demand. My Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy will be aware, a statutory Commission of Investigation is independent of Government in the conduct of its investigations. This independence, which is provided for in law, is a fundamental principle in the establishment of an inquiry under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. As the specified Minister for receiving its reports, I had no role or influence in how the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Local Authority Funding (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can advise the Deputy that the attached table sets out the payment provided to local authorities under programmes for Traveller Support initiatives and migrant integration for the years 2018 to 2020. Community Integration Funding Amounts Awarded 2018 2019 2020 Fingal Co. Co. 5,000 Wexford Co. Co. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 191, 192 and 201 together. Government decided on 6 January that, in order to reduce movement in the population, the ECCE programme would not resume until 1 February. It has now been agreed that the programme will remain suspended during extended restrictions up to 5 March. Other Early Learning and Childcare and School-Age Childcare services (ELC/SAC services)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Covid-19 Pandemic (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Public health experts have confirmed that Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services may continue to operate during the current Level 5 restrictions. While no environment is without risk in relation to Covid-19, and this has been the case throughout the pandemic, services can significantly reduce their risk level by closely following the expert guidance provided by...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (11 Feb 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am very conscious need for significant improvement in pay and working conditions for practitioners in early learning and care and school-age childcare services. I also accept that the level of pay they receive does not reflect the value of the work they do for children, for families and for the wider society and economy. It also contributes to challenges of recruitment and retention of...