Results 2,921-2,940 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Health Service Staff (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will repeat my remarks because the Deputy seems to have difficulty understanding them. I got the funding for the 60 social workers by the end of last year. Twenty-five of the 60 – ten is a different figure – have been recruited. All of the others have been offered or have accepted posts. I could not be clearer. The 60 social workers will be in place over the next few weeks, and...

Health Service Staff (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I repeat that there is a very clear plan in place. It has included the successful recruitment of the 60 social workers whom I have said would be recruited, resulting in a total of 270 social workers. The number was reflected in and required by the Ryan implementation plan. Some 260 of the 270 social workers have been recruited and are about to take up their positions. The Deputy seems to...

Written Answers — Juvenile Offenders: Juvenile Offenders (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66, 75, 76 and 84 together. The proposed National Children Detention Facility (NCDF) is a project to provide residential detention places for all young people detained by the courts on criminal charges, within a children detention school setting at Oberstown, North County Dublin. The Oberstown campus is currently the site of the 3 existing detention schools,...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I established the Task Force on the Child and Family Support Agency in September 2011 in response to the Programme for Government commitment to "fundamentally reform the delivery of child protection services by removing child welfare and protection from the HSE and creating a dedicated Child Welfare and Protection Agency, reforming the model of service delivery and improving accountability to...

Written Answers — Children in Care: Children in Care (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Central to the care and protection of children in care is listening to their voice. This principle has underpinned national policy and operational practices over the past number of years, in particular for children in the care of the State. Children in residential care and foster care are allocated a social worker whose role includes visiting the child in their placement and talking with them...

Written Answers — Children in Care: Children in Care (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 85 together. Section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991 places a statutory duty on the HSE to form a view in relation to each person leaving care as to whether there is a "need for assistance" and if it forms such a view, to provide services in accordance with the legislation and subject to resources. All young people who have had a care history with the...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE made provision for the recruitment of an additional 62 social workers in 2011. The recruitment process is being managed by the HSE National Recruitment Service. The HSE indicated in December 2011 that all of these posts had been either filled or accepted. I am advised by the HSE that twenty five individuals have already taken up duty with the remainder expected to come on stream in...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The revised Children First Guidance was launched by me in July 2011. Government approval to place the Children First National Guidance on a statutory basis was given on 12 July 2011. Since then considerable detailed policy examination of the best approach has been undertaken. Consultations have been undertaken with a number of voluntary bodies and experts working in this field and I can...

Written Answers — Juvenile Offenders: Juvenile Offenders (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 94 together. The Government is committed to ending the practice of sending 16 and 17 year old boys to St Patrick's institution. It is a priority of mine to ensure that this practice ends as soon as possible. I visited St Patrick's Institution twice in November last year, prior to assuming legal responsibility for the children detention schools from...

Written Answers — Constitutional Amendments: Constitutional Amendments (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Programme for Government 2011 states that the Referendum on Children's Rights is a priority, and that the wording of the proposed referendum will be along the lines of that proposed by the All Party Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children (JCCAC). From the outset of deliberations in relation to the constitutional amendment on children's rights the need for all party...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Family Support Agency, under my Department, operates the Scheme of Grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage and relationship, child and bereavement counselling services. Some 600 organisations receive funding each year, including the organisation in question, which is one of 28 larger organisations that receive multi-annual funding under the scheme. On 5 December 2011, the...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 100 together. The latest information from the HSE indicates that approximately 45 social workers in the Children and Family Services have applied for early retirement. The distribution of this number geographically is as follows: - 15 from HSE Dublin Mid Leinster; - 8 from HSE Dublin North East; - 13 from HSE South; and - 9 from HSE West. This...

Written Answers — Adoption Services: Adoption Services (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE is continuing to develop its proposals in relation to arrangements for providing intercountry adoption assessments. The issues involved are the subject of ongoing discussions with my Department. The Adoption Act 2010 provides that bodies other than the HSE may undertake adoption assessments on behalf of the Executive where they have been accredited by the Adoption Authority of...

Written Answers — Inter-Country Adoptions: Inter-Country Adoptions (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption entered into force for Vietnam on 1 February 2012. The ratification of the Hague Convention by Vietnam, the associated changes in Vietnamese law and the arrangements being put in place to support on the ground implementation are hugely significant changes in the intercountry adoption regime in that country since adoptions between Ireland and...

Written Answers — Health Service Inspections: Health Service Inspections (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 102 together. In October 2011, the Heath Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) conducted an unannounced inspection of Gleann Alainn Special Care Unit. It found at the time of their inspection, that it was in a state of crisis, due primarily to the poor standard of management which impacted negatively on the delivery of care to the children, the...

Written Answers — Adoption Services: Adoption Services (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The latest available annual report of the former Adoption Board is in respect of the year 2008. A report in respect of 2009 and the period up to end October 2010, when the Board was replaced by the Adoption Authority of Ireland is not yet available. The priority focus of the Board has been on directing available resources to the establishment of the new Adoption Authority and the ratification...

Written Answers — Foster Care: Foster Care (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have asked the HSE to provide me with the additional information requested by the Deputy as a matter of urgency and I will forward same on receipt.

Written Answers — Missing Persons: Missing Persons (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Under EU telecoms rules agreed in 2009, the 116000 number is reserved in all EU member states for a missing children hotline. My Department established and led a cross-sectoral Project Team, including representatives of my own Department, the Department of Justice and Equality, ComReg and An Garda Síochána to advance this matter. The position is that Comreg, who have responsibility for...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department is charged with leading the development of harmonised policy and quality integrated service delivery to secure better outcomes for children and young people. The Department, as part of the deliberative process of Government, routinely contributes observations on proposals for legislation and any possible impacts on children and young people that are identified through the...

Written Answers — Sexual Offences: Sexual Offences (14 Feb 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE's Children and Family Services are engaged in a significant programme of reform. A major element of the change programme in 2012 involves implementing consistent child protection procedures in line with the revised Children First Guidance which I launched in July 2011 with the HSE and An Garda Síochána. As part of the drive to improve the response to child abuse the HSE published a...