Results 3,341-3,360 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the stand alone report commissioned by the Garda Síochána which was published as "Audit of the exercise by An Garda Síochána of the provisions of Section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991". I am happy to report that progress is being made across all 15 actions of the plan I put in place to address the issues raised in the report...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Staff (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department made €1m of ‘CE Sustainability Funding’ available in 2017 to support services that had been impacted by staff qualification requirements in the 2016 Regulations. This funding was designed to ensure that these regulatory changes did not hinder service delivery or the availability of childcare places. Services were required to satisfy certain criteria to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Supports (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: In serving the best interest of the child, it is vital that the voices of foster carers and children in care are heard. Foster carers can raise any issue or provide feedback directly with their link worker in the first instance, and subsequently with team leader or principal social worker, and they may also make representations to their Foster Care Committee. In addition, foster carers...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I wish to assure the Deputy that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, deals immediately with emergency cases, including for instance, if a child is in immediate physical danger or at immediate risk of sexual abuse. Social work duty teams keep high priority cases under review by regularly checking to ascertain risk to the child, and where necessary will reprioritise the case. Tusla holds...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (28 Nov 2017)

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

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Records Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Adoption information and tracing services are currently provided on an administrative basis by Tusla, the Adoption Authority of Ireland and by bodies that have been accredited by the Authority under the Adoption Act 2010, depending on who holds the records in question. I am aware that some people are trying to find out if and when they were in a particular mother and baby home irrespective of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence whether in the context of the family or otherwise. At all times, Tusla’s key priority is to ensure that the needs of victims of domestic violence are being met in the best way possible. In 2017, I provided Tusla with funding of over...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Vacancies on State Boards (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am responsible for appointment of members to the boards of the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Gaisce and the Board of Management of the Oberstown Children Detention Campus. There are currently no vacancies on any of the State boards under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Appointments to State Boards Data (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am responsible for the appointment of members to the boards of the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Gaisce (the President's Award) and the Board of Management for Oberstown Children Detention Campus. Since becoming Minister in May 2016, I have made 11 appointments that have not come from the Public Appointments Service lists of suitable candidates. I...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Ministerial Communications (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I have not used a private email account for the purpose outlined in the Deputy's question.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Bodies Data (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Particulars of the State bodies under the aegis of my Department and details of the Exchequer provisions allocated to them in 2017 are set out in the table: Agency €m Child and Family Agency 713 Oberstown Children Detention Campus 26 Adoption Authority of Ireland 4 Office of the Ombudsman for Children 6

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: After-School Support Services (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department provides subsidies for after school childcare which can include homework clubs. Families are eligible for subsidies under the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS), Community Childcare Subvention Plus (CCSP) and Training and Employment (TEC) programmes. This childcare funding may be used towards a place in an afterschool setting. The subsidies are paid to childcare...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Costs (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputies will be aware, the factors impacting on the costs across delivery of services in any sector are complex and multifaceted. The cost to childcare providers is affected by many factors such as rates, rent, labour costs, and insurance amongst other things. The cost to parents to access that childcare is decided by childcare providers taking account of these overheads....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Internet Safety (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am not familiar with the issues to which the Deputy refers. My Department has no remit in relation to the regulation of video games or online technologies. The classification of video games and regulations relating to gambling are within the remit of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality. However, I am concerned about the need to protect children from online abuse and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (28 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 involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in youth services and in communities. I am pleased to confirm that the total youth...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Reports (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla have informed me that the policy is due to be presented to the Tusla Senior Management Team for review by the end of this week. Once approved, it is expected that the document will be ready for publication in early December. Tusla's primary focus is always on risk to children that may be identified when a disclosure of abuse is made. Tusla is sensitive to the difficulty a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Independent Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare is a critical input to the on-going reform of childcare in Ireland and is commitment in the Programme for Government. This Review seeks to: - Analyse the current costs of providing childcare in Ireland and factors that impact on those costs; - Develop a model of the unit cost/costs of providing childcare that allows analysis of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Services for People with Disabilities (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 586, 587, 597 and 598 together. AIM supports children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free pre-school education. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience. AIM is a child-centred and evidence-based model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Services for People with Disabilities (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: AIM supports children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free pre-school education. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience. AIM is a child-centred and evidence-based model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting. AIM was...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Services for People with Disabilities (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: AIM supports children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free pre-school education. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience. AIM is a child-centred and evidence-based model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting. AIM...