Results 2,841-2,860 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes, people will still be able to make a subject access request to my Department.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes, there is a live data protection impact assessment with the Bill. That will be shared when the final draft of the Bill is published. My officials will engage with the Data Protection Commission on that document.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: When a mother has a concern about the accuracy of information on a file, I believe that will be addressed through the existing processes and, in particular, the subject access request. I am aware there is a fear among some mothers that something inaccurate or, indeed, derogatory about them may have been put on their file at the time of the adoption about their own circumstances. There is an...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I apologise for interrupting the Deputy. Her connection broke down while she was making what was, I presume, an important point. Would she mind repeating the last two or three sentences? I missed them entirely.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes, it will be provided for. If someone comes in after the three-month period and registers a no contact preference, or any preference, that will be put onto the contact preference register. Obviously, if somebody has sought information already, prior to that no contact preference being lodged, then that information will have been given out. This Bill goes further than nudging the...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I take the Deputy's point on the importance of the inclusivity of these information measures, particularly in that three-month period. It has to be recognised that the information is going to be addressed to people who are in their 80s and 90s, people who are 16 years of age and people who have different lives, many of whom are not in Ireland any more. I absolutely bear that in mind. It is...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: This Bill is all about providing people with clear and guaranteed access to their care information and providing that access for the first time. The really important issue of the next of kin has come up in many of the submissions that have come before this committee. We are engaging with the Attorney General's office and with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on what provisions can...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Chair. I thank all members for their detailed questions. We are all working together to try and achieve the best legislation possible but also legislation we can pass as quickly as possible in order that people can more easily benefit from the process. I have addressed all of the issues but I would like to talk about the issue of illegal birth registration. As we know, the...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I welcome the Deputy to the committee. I will try to address her points. In terms of the use of the phrase "birth parent", I am open to looking at how we can address that and use language to correctly and appropriately represent mothers and fathers through the Bill. I am open to anything there. We can definitely look at the issue raised by the Deputy in respect of the timeframe. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm to the Deputy that, in response to the current crisis in Afghanistan, approximately 400 places have been made available by my Department for humanitarian cases from Afghanistan with priority being given to those working on human rights issues, including the rights of women, girls, and minorities, members of LGBT+ community,  as well as those working with NGOs and European...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm to the Deputy that, in response to the current crisis in Afghanistan, approximately 400 places have been made available by my Department for humanitarian cases from Afghanistan with priority being given to those working on human rights issues, including the rights of women, girls, and minorities, members of LGBT+ community,  as well as those working with NGOs and European...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: From the outset of Covid-19, my Department has engaged closely with the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre in keeping the sector informed of how to comply with public health guidance. This guidance includes advice for services on how to manage a confirmed case in their service. As is always the case, the terms and conditions of employment are a matter for the employer and the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I acknowledge that many early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services are reporting staffing and recruitment difficulties, with increased pressures as a result of Covid-19. My Department is actively monitoring the issue and has sought data and evidence-based proposals from sectoral representatives. The primary data-source for the ELC and SAC sector is the Pobal...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department closely monitors developments in relation to early learning and childcare capacity. Data is routinely collected from a variety of sources for this purpose. Local Authority level data is captured annually through the Early Years Sector Profile, administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department.  Owing to COVID, capacity data is not available for 2020. Before the onset of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme (NCS), which was launched in 2019, is my Department's key funding scheme to support parents with the costs of early learning and childcare. The NCS has been designed to be flexible, recognising that childcare needs are different for each family. In creating a single, national scheme, it was important to recognise these differences and create a...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm to the Deputy that earlier this month 50 people (11 families) arrived from Greece. Four families entered the Community Sponsorship Programme and the remaining families have been allocated places in the Ballaghaderreen and Clonea accommodation centres. With regard to unaccompanied minors relocated from Greece, the first 8 children arrived in 2020. A further 26 children...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm this budget submission was among a number of budget submissions received by my Department in the context of this upcoming Estimates Process. In the context of Budget 2022, I have stated publicly that early learning and childcare will be a key priority for me. In particular, I will be seeking additional investment to address affordability for parents, improve accessibility...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Assisted Decision-Making (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is a very important piece of legislation that changes the existing law on capacity from the status approach of the wardship system to a flexible functional approach, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time-specific basis.  It will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (30 Sep 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm to the Deputy that refugees from Afghanistan are being admitted to Ireland with the assistance of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) of my Department.   Programme refugees normally qualify, for instance, for housing provided by local authorities after spending some time in refugee accommodation centres, or through Community Sponsorship groups.  They...

Childcare Services: Motion [Private Members] (5 Oct 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “acknowledges: — the challenges faced by the early learning and childcare sector; — the particular challenges presented by Covid-19 for the sector and the tremendous efforts by early learning and childcare professionals and service providers...