Results 12,121-12,140 of 15,848 for speaker:Robert Troy

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: If the Minister compares the turnover of social workers with other health professionals such as nurses, it is quite high. One social worker recently said:I started to feel that instead of helping these children and families I was now part of a system that was causing them further harm and stress. Every social worker I speak to has an exit strategy because it is impossible. It is not...

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: I am sure social workers will be delighted to receive the Minister’s thanks but what they actually want is support which they are not getting. If they got support, there would not be the high level of turnover there is. Neither would there be social workers saying that instead of feeling they were helping children or their families, they were part of a system that was causing further...

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: We are in Ireland now.

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: That is not true.

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 113. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the action he will take to deal with the shortage of social workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2204/15]

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: We are all aware of the current high turnover of social work staff, which staff cite as arising because of high workloads and a lack of administrative supports. What is the Minister and his Department doing to deal with this high turnover and shortage of social workers?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Regulation (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: The Minister has outlined nothing new. He has quoted statistics about which we are aware. He referred to service providers, which are fulfilling a role the State is failing to fulfil. We need to support the early childhood care and education sector, which has expanded at a rapid pace over the past decade. There have been many positive developments, including the provision of 65,000 new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Regulation (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: I acknowledge the Minister made €3 million available; that is not in question. However, in a sector that employs 24,000 people, that equates to €125 per head. That would not buy the books to study at FETAC level 5 or 6. The staff in the sector feel they are undervalued and under resourced for the pivotal role they play in society and they are right. If they did not feel...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Regulation (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 109. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his plans to address the concerns regarding the conditions of those who work in the childcare sector in view of those who are concerned that the sector is facing more regulation and extra requirements for qualifications and training without any corresponding increase in capitation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2372/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Regulation (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: What are the Minister's and the Department's plans to address the concerns about conditions for professionals working in the early childhood care and education sector? Many concerns have been raised in the sector concerning increasing regulation and extra requirements for qualifications and training without any provision for increased capitation or support from the Department. This sector...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: The question is about the cost of child care.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: I thought the whole purpose of having a new Department of Children and Youth Affairs was to co-ordinate all this. The Minister has had four years in office and I remind him of what the Government has done in those four years regarding the cost of child care. It has reduced child benefit, taxed maternity benefit and reduced the capitation rates that are paid to the child care providers. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: If this Government was serious about dealing with this issue it would have used budget 2015 to deal with it, instead of announcing two weeks after that budget came into effect that it was going to establish yet another committee to look into a problem we already know is there.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: We all support quality child care provision and no one is questioning that. Anybody who is in receipt of State support should be fully tax-compliant and should meet the standards set out by the Department. That is fact and taken as a given. What we saw last week, however, was more spin by this Government, aided and abetted by the Irish Independent as it is so capable of doing in recent...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 106. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide the details of his proposed child care plan; the way it will make child care more affordable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2371/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: Last week’s front page of the Irish Independenthad a story following a leak from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs that the Government would introduce tax credits to help families crippled by the costs of child care. Subsequently, we learned this was in fact not the case and that, instead, the Government was bringing forward a plan in this regard. Will the Minister inform...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Strategy Publication (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 117. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the early years strategy, originally promised for 2012, will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2203/15]

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse Prevention (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 128. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the role his Department is playing in combatting online child grooming, cyber bullying and abuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2205/15]

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 133. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the details of his proposed child care plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2202/15]

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (20 Jan 2015)

Robert Troy: 137. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on a Health Information and Quality Authority report indicating that children at a care centre in the southern region routinely engage in illegal drug use and criminal activity during frequent absences from the facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2206/15]