Results 20,261-20,280 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (27 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is developing a strategy for the future commissioning of services. The strategy will be based on a comprehensive needs analysis and review of current service provision. It will take account of the total resources available to the Agency, the statutory duties assigned under legislation and services that can best be provided by partner agencies and statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (27 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 to 129, inclusive, together. There are currently 109 communities supported through the Family Resource Centre Programme which is funded by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The Family Resource Centre Programme is a national programme with its own dedicated budget. Tusla provides core funding to Family Resource Centres to cover the employment of two...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff Recruitment (27 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: I have allocated extra funding of €6.1m to Tusla to address risk associated with unallocated child protection and welfare cases. This funding will be used to recruit an additional 201 staff in 2016, 168 of which will be social workers. The remaining staff will be recruited to provide important related business support functions such as clerical and ICT supports. The cost for each...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Preschool Services (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: I acknowledge the considerable support of the child care sector, along with the flexibility of child care providers and staff, in ensuring the range of child care support programmes administered by my Department are implemented. From September 2016, I am expanding the free preschool programme to allow children enrol in free preschool from the time they are three years of age and to remain...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Preschool Services (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: Every year a significant number of new preschool providers apply to participate in this programme. This increased demand for and additional investment in free preschool provision should encourage greater numbers of applicants. It is clear more capacity will be required. Officials in my Department are working closely with the city and county child care committees and voluntary child care...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Preschool Services (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: There is capacity. Some of it has been taken up. Since the introduction and the announcement of the scheme, people who have been holding back sending their children to preschool, hoping to save the one year available up until now to start in September 2016, have availed of it. Over 5,000 extra children are now in the early childhood care and education programme as a consequence of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Preschool Services (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: There is the restoration of capitation rates to pre-2012 levels from September 2016. The additional capitation for preschool providers was recently announced as part of the suite of Government-funded supports for children with a disability accessing the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, and I know that is something the Deputy would be supportive of. There is funding of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Investigations (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: The total number of complaints received by the early years inspectorate of Tusla has fallen from 361 in 2013 to 274 in 2014 and to 258 last year. Information about the category of complaint is first available from 2015, and I am circulating details of these in a table accompanying this reply. In brief, the table indicates that of all complaints received in 2015, 169 related to governance,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Investigations (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: The complaints are being compiled, and it is intended that this will be done by a centralised complaints office, so that they can be filtered, categorised, risk-rated and prioritised for investigation. I have no issue with publishing the final lists and having transparency. It would require some internal discussions, I have no doubt, and some discussions with the sector. I believe...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Investigations (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: Part 7(a) of the Child Care Act was amended by section 92 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. Under that Act, all service providers notified to the HSE prior to the commencement of the Act were deemed registered for a period of three years. Under the Act, the agency may attach conditions to a registration, or remove a provider from the register. The agency may choose to do this where...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Investigations (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: Hear, hear.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: At the outset, I would like to be associated with the Ceann Comhairle's comments and wish Deputy McLellan all the very best in future. I am sure that whatever she chooses to do, it will be done with her usual attention to detail and commitment. At my recent appearance at the review of Ireland by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, I confirmed that the Irish...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: I will underscore the actions that have been taken. Poverty is seven times more likely in households where people are jobless, and that is why the Government's focus has been on jobs and getting people back to work. There have been 135,000 new jobs created already, and another 50,000 are planned for this year. The Pathways to Work strategy is working and helping to ensure that a high...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: We all know where it went wrong and there is no doubt about that with regard to the last Government. Family homelessness and child poverty are two issues that the Government takes very seriously. There is a regular meeting of Cabinet dealing with social policy and the issue of homelessness is discussed at every one. I go to all of them. The Deputy mentioned the link between jobs and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: I am keenly aware that homelessness is very disruptive to normal family life, and it is a major issue that the Government is tackling. Homelessness can have such a negative impact on children's education and welfare as they move from one accommodation to another while still trying to attend the same school and maintain relationships with their friends. It impacts not just on their welfare...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: I do not know whether the Deputy heard what I said only two minutes ago. I never intimated for a moment that the function of the Child and Family Agency was anything other than to support families and children and keep children with their families, and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous. Most like-minded people would support the view that the best place for a child is with his or her...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: Regarding the homelessness issue, I do not want to have a political row with Deputy Troy on what may be our last oral parliamentary question session-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: -----but the reality is that for him to pretend that this problem has only recently arisen and that it has nothing to do with the disastrous housing policy of the last Government clearly flies in the face of all logic and reason.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: We accept that this is a major problem and that it has got worse. Child poverty is a priority for the Government to address and, like many things, it takes time to address. We all know, ultimately, that the relief and resolution of this problem lies in increasing supply and not building houses where nobody wants to live.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2016)

James Reilly: It is interesting that the Deputy should mention 2013 because he will remember that we were still in a bailout then and were at the mercy of others, thanks to his party's actions-----