Results 3,381-3,400 of 15,836 for speaker:Robert Troy
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: 4. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when funding will be provided to the Attic Youth Café in County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36077/14]
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: I do not usually raise individual constituency matters during Priority Questions but the Attic Youth Café in County Longford is a particularly serious issue. It has been repeatedly promised funding by previous Ministers, the Taoiseach and a local Deputy, yet this youth organisation, which works across the social divide, finds itself in extreme financial trouble. The Minister's...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: I had hoped the Minister might enlighten us further. I am aware that Deputy Bannon was involved and he led them to the mess in which they find themselves by promising them in March 2013 that they would get a grant of €100,000. He facilitated a meeting with the then Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald who confirmed at the meeting that they were eligible in 2013. He brought the Taoiseach to...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: I asked about Longford and the Attic youth café in particular. There is a very great disparity of funding between counties and it is not fair. What is noticeable is that the disparity seems to penalise weaker, smaller counties, as in this case. I asked about the youth guarantee funding which comes from Europe. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established to deal with...
- Other Questions: Preschool Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: 8. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children with special needs accessing mainstream preschool education and the plans in place to provide the additional supports required to facilitate children with additional needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35730/14]
- Other Questions: Preschool Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: The question relates to the scenario in which children with special educational needs access preschool education. What plans has the Department put in place to provide additional supports to children with special educational needs?
- Other Questions: Preschool Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: Who has statutory responsibility? Is it the HSE or the Department of Education and Skills? Neither of them claims responsibility. Currently, the provision of services is disjointed throughout the country. In a number of counties, service provision is positive while in others, it is poor. The Minister alluded to the Pobal survey that was published during the summer which highlighted that...
- Other Questions: Preschool Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: I am aware of the major problems with quality and so on. I did not refer to the introduction of a second free preschool year. I asked about how the Department will support children with special educational needs who cannot avail of the current preschool year, which is the primary problem. What does that say about the Government's inclusion policy? The Minister did not answer the question...
- Other Questions: Preschool Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: The Department and HSE have statutory responsibility.
- Other Questions: Preschool Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: Sometimes it goes in our favour and sometimes it goes against us.
- Other Questions: Child Protection Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: 11. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the action he proposes to take following the Child and Family Agency reporting that over 9,000 instances of abuse or neglect involving children are awaiting a social worker to be assigned to the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35728/14]
- Other Questions: Child Protection Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: This question, which is similar to one of the priority questions I tabled, relates to a report that a social worker has not been assigned to more than 9,000 cases of abuse or neglect involving children. I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.
- Other Questions: Child Protection Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: There is no doubt that the shortage of social workers is leaving children in a vulnerable position and placing them at risk. Social workers on the front line inform me that they are at their wits' end and do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. They have spoken of leaving their offices on Friday evenings with bundles of case files. Their role has become one of fighting fires rather...
- Other Questions: Child Protection Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: May I assume from the Minister's reply that there are no vacant social work posts in the Child and Family Agency and the agency has achieved its full staff complement in the area of social work?
- Other Questions: Child Protection Services (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: I asked the question because I am seeking certainty about this issue. How many positions are vacant? Has a panel been established from which social workers taking maternity leave can be replaced? I understand that professionals are not replaced when they take a career break or maternity leave, as they are entitled to do, or are absent from work due to long-term illness. As a result, the...
- Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: 14. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide a Supplementary Estimate for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35727/14]
- Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: This is somewhat similar to the question I asked earlier. It relates to the provision of a Supplementary Estimate for Tusla, the new Child and Family Agency, in 2014. If the Minister was not able an hour ago to give me a definitive answer on whether a Supplementary Estimate brought would be forward at the end of this year, I doubt he will have his mind made up. All the same, maybe we can...
- Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: The Minister was the Minister for Health at the time the new agency was set up and its remit transferred from that Department to Tusla. Is he satisfied the new agency was left carry over a deficit? Surely, the new agency should have started off afresh with a blank sheet. That would have sent a clear signal that we want this agency to work. I accept the issue of legal costs has been...
- Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: It is extremely important to tackle the waste through exorbitant legal fees. I do not accept the Minister will try his best to ascertain the figures involved. They should be readily available and we should know what is being spent by the Department in any given year in any particular area on legal fees. I got them before and I hope the Minister’s office will make them available...
- Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)
Robert Troy: The Minister should know what was spent, however.