Results 3,681-3,700 of 7,126 for speaker:Alan Farrell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: How does Tusla support childcare workers in performing their functions and in adhering to their moral and legal responsibility to report issues of non-compliance with Children First guidelines to it, regardless of whether those workers identify themselves? How do we support them in that process? I am referring to the protection of employment. A low-paid worker who sees something abhorrent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Tusla should follow by getting that information out there. One of the key problems has been the lack of information.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: I thank Mr. Quinlan. I have one final question. I have a dozen, but I will ask one more before I let the members in. I am sure I am being frowned upon at this stage. I refer to the facility opened by Hyde and Seek that was not registered. I have some conflicting dates. I was of the view that it opened in January 2018 but it appears, on the basis of Tusla's opening statement, that I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: I see. That is the information with which Tusla was provided. Could our guests indicate the date on which Tusla found out about it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Tusla found out on 31 January 2018 that this service was operating without registration.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: There has been a prosecution in relation to that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Did Tusla notify the parents in question? Perhaps our guests would enlighten the committee on this. When the application was received, would the documentation have provided Tusla with the names of the parents who were going to be or who were using the service?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: How long did that take?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Okay. The service was not registered until after March.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: It was operating on a daily basis, to Tusla's knowledge, from January 2018 to March 2019.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Did the service register and then Tusla acted or did Tusla act and then it registered? I would like to know the timeline. If it was operating without having applied for registration, Tusla could have shut it down. I would like to know which happened first. Did Tusla approach the service to say that it was not registered or did the service apply and the Tusla asked why the hell it was not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: If a service provider which is subject to a partial application is up and operating, the law which states that Tusla can shut it down if it is not registered does not apply. Is that what Mr. Lee is saying?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Could Tusla have shut it down up until prosecution occurred?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: When does the parent or the child come into the equation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Can I just clarify that? Tusla does not have the statutory authority to shut down an unregulated childcare service provider in this State.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: We knew that, but it is still shocking to hear that response.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: Earlier, our guests highlighted the difficulty of providing timely information to parents in order to allow them to make informed choices. When a service provider complies with the Children First guidelines, and all the Acts and policies that flow from them, and receives a Tusla report that is either satisfactory or glowing, it is put up on agency's website.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: A very obvious gap is the fact that this report is not published and, therefore, parents cannot make informed choices. They operate on the assumption that the Child and Family Agency is on it and that the organisation is compliant. I would like to see a flag of some kind to say that a certain service provider has been inspected and that the report will not be published on the inference or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: I would imagine that it would only be a statutory instrument as opposed to primary legislation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Issues Regarding Childcare Facilities: Discussion (31 Jul 2019)

Alan Farrell: It takes longer and that time is crucial.