Results 10,701-10,720 of 11,816 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My officials are compiling copies of the correspondence referred to by the Deputy to be forwarded to the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme in mainstream pre-school settings. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every child, including those with language delays,  can meaningfully...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year.  A child must have reached 2 years and 8 months of age on or prior to 31 August of the relevant programme year to be eligible for the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 sets out the legal obligations of public service bodies to meet a target of 3% of employees with disabilities. Under the Act, the National Disability Authority (NDA) has the statutory role to report, on an annual basis, on compliance with the 3% target.  The Disability Act 2005 defines disability as follows: “Disability, in relation to a person,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Costs (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are currently providing a €638 million investment in childcare. With that money, we have three core aims, which are affordability for parents; quality for the children in these services, which means ensuring that childcare professionals are well paid so that they continue to enhance and grow the care they are providing; and keeping services sustainable. When we see the amount of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Costs (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: One of the disadvantages of the system, which is a privately driven system, is that where there is a gap in provision in a geographic area, unlike in a primary or secondary school where the State steps in and sources a site, the State does not have the capacity to do that right now. It is about putting in place a funding model that supports new services and some of the organisational...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Where a person or a family are in temporary emergency accommodation, the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, endeavours to move them to more suitable permanent accommodation in the shortest time possible, notwithstanding pressures on the IPAS accommodation portfolio. It is IPAS's policy to prioritise the movement of family units from emergency accommodation when suitable...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am aware of the case and I am grateful to Deputy Matthews for drawing it to my attention. It was a situation where there was a good story, with a family being moved from emergency accommodation in a hotel to own-door accommodation in another location, but they did not fully understand the positive nature of the move because of the lack of translation. I am aware of that and understand...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I would be aware of the huge amount of work GOSHH does in the mid-west. It combines a range of services that add a community element to those vital health-based supports. GOSHH submitted an application under the funding call and I am pleased to be able to say that it received funding for its rainbow development project of €75,500. It is a significant investment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. As we celebrated World AIDS Day on the first day of this month it is an important time to raise the need for this very important health service to be reopened. It was an issue that was discussed at the steering group of the national LGBTI+ strategy, of which I am a member. A number of representatives in the group raised their concerns about the continued closure of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Costs (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 98 together. Among the range of commitments in the programme for Government, addressing affordability in early learning and childcare is a priority for me. I am confident that work under way through First 5, including the national childcare scheme, NCS, and new funding model, will deliver on that. Annual investment in early learning and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: For either the extra three weeks leave for parents who had their child during the last year, or the full five weeks leave for new parents of children going forward, that can only be taken once the legislation is passed. We have to get the legislation passed first. However, once the legislation is passed, if a parent took their two weeks of original parents leave in January of this year,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In May 2019, the Facing the Future Together conference was organised by the Christine Buckley Centre to mark the 20th anniversary of the State apology to survivors and the ten-year anniversary of the publication of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse - the Ryan report. The primary focus of the conference was on persons who had suffered abuse as children in industrial and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: When the report of the commission of investigation is published in the second week of January, the Government will also be publishing its action plan on how it is responding to the various recommendations and a number of these recommendations will be in the field of health and supports. We are working to ensure that the immediate recommendations are immediately in place at that stage and in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would be conscious, from my own engagement with survivors over recent weeks, of that wide range of impacts, including very profound impacts, that time in these institutions has had on survivors. One of the points we committed to in the Government statement made in October of this year was to advance a piece of research on the actual impact on survivors, and that is something we are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In line with the commitments in the national LGBTI+ inclusion strategy, my Department continues work on mapping of LGBTI+ community services. Last week, I announced 29 projects around the country that will receive funding to a total amount of €700,000 under the 2020 LGBTI+ community services fund. The fund comprises two schemes, one dealing with community services and the other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is important that we get the report out and make decisions on anything that happens next as a result of receiving the report. I have committed to engaging directly with the Deputy and with groups he feels should be involved, even prior to the report. I do not know whether the Deputy made specific contact to get me to speak to survivors but I am happy to do so. I have met a significant...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am happy to engage with them prior to the publication of the report if the Deputy wants. I will not be able to give a commitment on a new dig until after the report is published because it is important to see what the report says. A very extensive piece of the report is specifically on Shan Ross and I do not want to give out bits of it. I do not think it is appropriate to do that to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91, 106 and 120 together. I am pleased to confirm that, in order to support parents of children born during the strict lockdown measures, the Government intends to extend parents' leave from two weeks to five weeks for each parent of all children born or adopted on or after 1 November 2019. The Government also intends to extend the period in which...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Deputy McAuliffe is at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts and gave his apologies. We cannot grant additional leave until the legislation is passed. Once the legislation is passed the leave can be granted. There is a technical issue with regard to the arrangements for payment of the benefit. The Department of Social Protection is under a lot of pressure at present with the...