Results 2,361-2,380 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Child Abuse (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: Clearly, the priority is to protect children and keep them safe. That is precisely what we are doing by working for consistency, looking at referrals around the country and ensuring there is an adequate response to them. In addition, we are putting in place legislation and an implementation plan, which is what the handbook is offering. That is how to keep children safe, by responding to...

Adoption Records (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have been advised by the Adoption Authority of Ireland that it only holds records of adoptions effected since the introduction of statutory adoption in 1952. It holds no records relating to birth registrations. The Adoption Board commenced a preliminary examination of available records in 2010. The audit related to records retained by the authority of contact received from persons who...

Adoption Records (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware of the situation described by Deputy Daly and of the calls by adopted persons for access to historical personal and family information. I completely agree with the Deputy that the files must be preserved intact. It is essential that those files are maintained in a safe and secure place. I agree with the Deputy that there should be one authority with overall responsibility for...

Adoption Records (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I wish to examine as comprehensively as possible the issues raised by Deputy Daly. I will consider international best practice and given our constitutional and legal constraints I will consider what precisely can be done with regard to the Deputy's query. The current contact register goes a certain way. It is clear many people will seek this information and we want the process to be as...

Ministerial Orders (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 74 together. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established on 2 June 2011 by the Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011, made under section 6(1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939. The effect of this order also gave responsibility for the Family...

Ministerial Orders (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy can see from the fairly detailed reply I have provided that quite a number of the functions have been transferred. One function regarding youth justice is outstanding and, for budgetary reasons among others, it is intended that will be transferred on 1 January. We will work jointly on this because it is not being transferred in its entirety. Part of the work relating to the...

Ministerial Orders (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will follow these questions up and correspond directly with the Deputy. I am happy to answer questions in the House in regard to Vietnam. Significant progress has been made in recent weeks in efforts to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam on the adoption issue. I intend that I will answers questions relating to Vietnam in the House and I will correspond with the Deputy directly...

Ministerial Orders (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Referendum on Children's Rights (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The third and final report of the Joint Committee on Children and the Constitution, JCCAC, deals with the rights of children under the Constitution, and the statute and case law concerning adoption, guardianship, care proceedings, custody and access to children. It sets out a proposed wording for a constitutional amendment to strengthen the rights of children. As Deputies will be aware, the...

Referendum on Children's Rights (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy knows first hand how complex this area is but I assure him that active work is being done to resolve some of the difficulties. It is a complex task. Real concerns were expressed by the previous Attorney General. There was concern about some unintended consequences in terms of the demands on the State. It is a question of seeing how we can resolve those. In advance of that I...

Referendum on Children's Rights (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have not made a decision on that but I would want to consult as widely as possible.

Referendum on Children's Rights (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: In reply to the comments by both Deputies, while the wording and the constitutional challenges are complex the intention is simple. It is to have greater protection for children and emphasise that in the Constitution.

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: There are no plans at present to increase the level of qualifications required under the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. However, interim arrangements which applied in the 2010-2012 start-up phase will no longer apply from September 2012. Under the interim arrangements, possession of the four core child care modules of the FETAC Level 5 award have been accepted as...

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I agree with the Deputy on the opportunity the ECCE scheme presents in that 95% of our three to five year olds are attending these services, and quality is of the utmost importance as well as top quality training for the staff delivering the service. In that regard, another important element on which I am sure the Deputy would agree with me is to involve the parents where there are...

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: Access to child care is something we want to preserve and develop. As the Deputy said, the previous Government decided about three years ago to close down the capital funding in the area. Nevertheless, we must continue to address the issue, and at the very least be aware of the demands that exist given our increased population and increasing birth rate. We need to be sensitive to the...

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I assure the House again of the Government's ongoing commitment to early childhood care and education. The ECCE scheme, which Deputy McConalogue mentioned, was introduced in January 2010 and provides a free preschool year to all eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. Almost every preschool service in the State is participating in the programme, so it is available...

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I certainly take the Deputy's point. He does not have to convince me of the importance of early intervention and support and quality child care. The situation has improved greatly in recent years and the ECCE programme, which 94% of children are attending, as I said, is certainly beneficial. I would like to see more resources in the area. In July, at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on...

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Deputy Wallace. There is no doubt that Ireland was slow to develop comprehensive child care, but great progress has been made in the past number of years, primarily thanks to EU funding but also because of some national funding. Further developments in the area are hugely constrained despite the worldwide evidence because financial resources are limited. However, I assure the...

Youth Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department is involved in ongoing and productive dialogue with the youth sector through the National Youth Work Advisory Committee, NYWAC. This committee comprises a chairperson and 32 members drawn equally from the voluntary and statutory sectors involved in the administration and provision of youth work programmes and services. Thirteen nominees from the National Youth Council of...

Youth Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I take the Deputy's point. We are all aware of the threats posed to young people by alcohol, drugs and unhealthy lifestyles. We must get to grips with the challenges posed by consumerism, the media and new technologies. There is a number of things I am doing on the development of youth work and I am going to ensure we have a national youth development policy because we have no...