Results 3,281-3,300 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (22 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The information required by the Deputy is not readily available. My officials have requested the information from Tusla and this will be forwarded directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Provision (23 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has conducted an analysis of the ECCE scheme capacity and is satisfied there will be no shortfall in ECCE places for the 2017-18 programme year. It should be noted the peak number of children attending ECCE in 2016-17 was just over 120,000. The 2017-18 numbers are expected and on track to be in line with the 2016-17 uptake. From September 2018, the ECCE programme will...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I appreciate the Deputy's question and the way my Department has answered it. The issue of capacity is consistently monitored, particularly by the city and county child care committees. I am not aware of any specific capacity concerns. If the Deputy has a specific capacity concern, she should bring it to the attention of my Department and the city and county child care committees. There...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: One of the measures I introduced in 2016 and 2017 was to support capital development, specifically for capacity issues. My Department provided €8.4 million for its 2017 early years capital funding programme, €4 million for the 2016 early years capital funding programme and the 2017 funding was made available to providers under three strands, the largest of which, €4.2...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Care Orders (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Deputy for the explanation of her question. The information requested by the Deputy is not available at present. Tusla’s existing information systems do not directly track movements of children from voluntary to full care orders. However, I am pleased to say the national child care information system, which is being rolled out nationally, will greatly improve information...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Care Orders (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The first issue is the pathway from voluntary care to court-ordered care and that Tusla should be aware of the trends in how many children may move from one to the other. That is an excellent point and Tusla has already taken it into consideration. It is built into the new database that has been developed and that is being rolled out across the country. In recent meetings with the chief...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Care Orders (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: This moves into the second area of the Deputy's concerns relating to what happens in the context of voluntary care and decisions that are made to move beyond that. Those are very valid concerns. As the Deputy is aware, voluntary care is an arrangement undertaken by the parents or guardians of a child and Tusla and does not involve the courts system. We need to be aware of the dynamics...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Combatting Cyberbullying (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Protecting children from online abuse, bullying and grooming requires a whole-of-Government approach. The devastating effects are becoming increasingly obvious in our homes, schools and communities. While my Department does not have the lead responsibility in this area, it plays an important role in a wider range of actions across a number of Departments. Last week, I met the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Combatting Cyberbullying (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I would be willing to accept that invitation and I am certain that my colleagues would also. As the Deputy identified, we need a whole-of-Government approach. The Ministers whose Departments are at the forefront of the issue need to work together to identify more clearly an action plan for what each of us is doing. Together we need to ensure that plan is implemented. For example, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Combatting Cyberbullying (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Regarding the Deputy's last request, that has been heard and I will take it back to the appropriate Ministry. Regarding the Deputy's first issue concerning the recommendation for the establishment of an office of digital commissioner, we discussed that at the recent meeting with the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the Minister, Deputy Naughten. We are aware of that recommendation. What...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: School Completion Programme (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I believe the school completion programme is critical to ensuring that children who are most at risk of early school leaving are supported to stay in education. However, I believe that it needs to be reformed to ensure that it delivers the best possible outcomes for children. To this end, I am examining carefully how best to strengthen it. Any reforms will be informed by the Economic and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: School Completion Programme (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: There are two aspects to the Deputy's question. The first relates specifically to the resources allocated under budget 2018 for the programme I have identified, that reform of the programme is a priority for me in the context of the recent letter I wrote to Tusla in terms of a performance statement and I look forward to receiving its formal response laying out a business plan and identifying...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: School Completion Programme (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am absolutely committed to making decisions on the reform as soon as possible. I am deeply committed to its reform. I have considerable understanding and experience of dealing with people who work in the context of school completion and have a deep understanding of the issues involved in terms of the programmes and processes that I wish to encourage as we move forward in terms of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: We have made good progress in implementing the access and inclusion model, AIM, which helps children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free preschool education. Its goal is to empower preschool providers to deliver an inclusive preschool experience. As the Deputy is aware, AIM is a child-centred model that involves seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Deputy has identified a particular case. We are speaking specifically about the AIM programme, which has had huge take-up. As I identified in my initial response, there has been just one appeal of a case of refusal in that regard. I can say in response to another one of the Deputy's supplementary questions that I have tried to identify specific timeframes for our responses at each...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The good questions raised by the Deputy do not take away from the facts I have identified with regard to the timeframes that apply under the various AIM levels. I will bring back to my officials the Deputy's suggestion regarding the initiation of access to AIM in circumstances in which the direction that needs to be taken is known. I will be happy to take that back as a recommendation....

Other Questions: Foster Care Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome HIQA's important work on foster care services and the report prepared by the Oireachtas joint committee. I will respond to the joint committee by the end of the year. In Ireland, 92% of children living in care are in foster care placements, which is an enviable situation. This compares favourably to foster care services overseas. The most recent figures for England show that 74%...

Other Questions: Foster Care Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: HIQA sends its reports directly to me and my Department. To respond to the Deputy's last query and issue, as she says, there was an inspection of foster care services in Cork in February and a follow-up inspection at the end of August. The follow-up inspection took place before many of the actions recommended were due to be completed, as shown in Tusla's action plan as accepted by HIQA....

Other Questions: Foster Care Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am aware of the joint committee's recommendations. There are some details in the report, including those relating to the cost of Tusla's provision of private foster care, on which I hope to obtain more information before responding to the recommendations overall. I am happy to say some of that work with Tusla is in hand. It ties in with the recommendations of the committee. My officials...