Results 20,341-20,360 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Absenteeism (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, under the remit of my Department, has a statutory responsibility to ensure each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The education welfare services of Tusla, comprising the statutory Education Welfare Service, the School Completion Programme and the Home School Community Liaison scheme are key supports for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is implemented by my Department and provides free pre-school care and education for children before they commence primary school. Children born between the 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2012 are eligible to avail of the free pre-school provision in the current school year. Under the current criteria for eligibility, the 30th day of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: The latest figures I have to hand from the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, indicates that, in October 2015, there were 6,331 children in care. Almost 93% of children in care were in a foster care setting. Of all children in care, over 93% (5,903) had an allocated social worker. Tusla's policy is that all children coming into care and those in high risk placements have an allocated social...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: There were a total of 548.95 whole time equivalent staff employed in the clerical administrative and senior management grades in Tusla at end December 2015. Of these, 92.08 (2.6% of all staff) were senior management grades. Senior management grades are defined as Grade VIII and above. Front line staff can be defined as workers who are in direct contact with the public. While many of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Supports (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: Aftercare is the term used to describe the planning and support put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving statutory care at 18 years of age, to assist him/her in making the transition to independent living.An aftercare programme is based on an assessed need, and an aftercare worker can make arrangements for various supports, including support for accommodation, and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: Growing up in Ireland is a national population sample, with all sub-groups and segments of the population being selected on a pro rata basis based on their representation in the national population. On this basis, although children in care (fostered and adopted) are represented in the sample, their absolute number is too small to allow them to be analysed as a separate group or to be tracked...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: At the end of November 2015, the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, reported there were 19,847 children (open cases) who had an allocated social worker dealing with issues of assessment, child protection, and children in care. There were a further 6,382 children (open cases) who had been assessed as needing a dedicated social worker and were waiting for one to be allocated. Some of these cases...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency provides a range of services aimed at addressing emergency situations in the area of child welfare and protection. In the main, these emergency situations arise out of hours. The out-of-hours service provides access to a Child and Family Agency Social Worker and the placement of children removed by An Garda Síochána under the Child Care Act,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: City and County Childcare Committees offer a wide variety of services locally including; advice on setting up a childcare business; childcare information sessions; training courses for those considering a career in childcare; and advice and support on applying for childcare programmes. City and County Childcare Committees also offer services to parents, such as providing information on local...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: The information requested is currently being compiled and will issue directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: At present, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme covers children who have reached the age of 3 years and 2 months by 1 September of the relevant year. Children born between 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2012 are eligible to avail of the programme in the current school year. In Budget 2016 I announced that from September 2016 children will be eligible to start free...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Preschool Services (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: In Budget 2016 it was announced that, from September 2016, children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they turn age 3, and can continue in free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the relevant pre-school year i.e. end June). This extension of free pre-school will increase the number of children benefiting...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: I have been conscious for some time of the difficulty experienced by some children with a disability in accessing and benefiting fully from the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. With this in mind, I requested that an Inter-Departmental Group, led by this Department, be established with a brief to bring forward recommendations to address this issue. The Group has...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Appointments to State Boards Data (2 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: I am responsible for the appointment of members to the boards of the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Gaisce and the Board of Management for the Children Detention Schools. From the establishment of my Department in June 2011 until 31 December 2013 the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs was responsible for appointments to the Boards of the Family...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Home Schooling (3 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 55 together. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency under the remit of my Department, has a statutory obligation under Section 14 (1) of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, to maintain a register of children being educated in a place other than a recognised school. This requirement exists in order to safeguard a child's constitutional and legal right...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: After-School Support Services (3 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: The Inter-Departmental Working Group on Future Investment in Childcare, which reported in July 2015, recommended that my Department, with relevant partners, should develop a model for after-school care, including a quality standards framework. My Department will shortly be establishing a Working Group to develop quality standards for after-school and out-of-school care. In preparation...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Action Plan on Bullying (3 Feb 2016)

James Reilly: In relation to the first part of the question, I have no plans to publish a National Strategy on Children’s Cyber Safety. Responsibility for children’s safety when accessing the internet and social media extends across a number of Government Departments. Areas of concern include cyber bullying, accessing illegal or inappropriate content, and the dangers of posting content...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (22 Mar 2016)

James Reilly: I have been conscious for some time of the difficulty experienced by some children with a disability in accessing and benefitting fully from the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. With this in mind, an Inter-Departmental Group, led by this Department, was established with a brief to bring forward recommendations to address this issue. The Group concluded its work and its...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (22 Mar 2016)

James Reilly: As this is a service matter for which Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has responsibility, I have asked Tusla to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (22 Mar 2016)

James Reilly: The Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters) is tasked with thoroughly examining the experiences of mothers and children resident in these homes. With regard to the particular focus raised by the Deputy, the Commission will specifically examine whether any group of residents was systematically treated differently on any grounds, including that of race....