Results 3,721-3,740 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone
- Other Questions: Irish Youth Justice Service (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: I will investigate if there have been any requests for additional support and revert to the Deputy. I will also come back to the Deputy on whether research has been conducted on the paths taken by young people when they move on from Oberstown. I have met young people at St. Patrick's and Wheatfield who should have been in Oberstown but we were not able to facilitate them. There are...
- Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: On budget day, I was pleased to announce that I had secured additional resources of almost €3 million to support the work of existing family resource centres, and to facilitate the inclusion of an additional 11 community organisations to the family resource centre programme. I have increased the budget for these centres from €13.5 million in 2017 to just over €16.5...
- Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: Deputy Heydon is a worthy public representative for his constituency. The Deputy has put forward his arguments that these applications meet the criteria I have outlined. Ultimately, Tusla makes these decisions and recommendations to me. From my ongoing work with Tusla’s executive and board, and as I look at the different issues in the programmes providing services for children...
- Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: From my own practice and experience, I have seen the effectiveness of community initiatives, leaders and innovators, which are what family resource centres are all about. Working in partnership with the State, they are the best way to move beyond economic and social disadvantage. That is why my heart, as well as my actions, are committed to family resource centres. All I can say is that...
- Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: -----as 11 from 43 leaves a few places that are not going to be able to get it this time.
- Other Questions: Departmental Reports (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: The report the Deputy refers to was published on 29 May 2017 and I worked with the report's author, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, to develop an action plan to address the key issues raised. I published the action plan on 28 June 2017 and since then I have had ongoing engagement with Dr. Shannon and Dr. Niall Muldoon, the Ombudsman for Children, about the implementation of these actions....
- Other Questions: Departmental Reports (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: On the co-location issue about which the Deputy specifically asked, what I am describing is a process whereby we are moving towards a much more substantial model of social workers, gardaí and health care workers working together in the context of the same site. One issue is the development of procedures that enable that to happen. The focus is particularly on the child who has suffered...
- Other Questions: Departmental Reports (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: As Deputy Rabbitte identified, the out-of-hours services were an integral aspect of Dr. Shannon's report that required significant reform. This is an issue on which Tusla and An Garda Síochána are working together to identify reform in terms of streamlining the three existing national services. Out-of-hours services are available in four major cities and we want to augment that as...
- Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: A key priority for me as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is to ensure access to high quality and affordable child care. I have made capital funding available immediately for this purpose and I have also secured €250 million for child care facilities under the national development plan in the years ahead. Each year Pobal conducts research on behalf of my Department to...
- Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: What is happening? The application process for these capital schemes is well under way and I encourage providers to contact their local city or county childcare committee with any questions they might have about this process. The affordable childcare scheme will transform affordability for families. The legislation passed Second Stage recently. It will enable more parents to work if they so...
- Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: I am satisfied. I have identified a process whereby my Department, working with Pobal and child care providers, carries out ongoing monitoring and analysis of the expectation of demand in terms of additional capacity or child care places. In the context of the future and work in preparing for the national planning framework in the national development plan, I have engaged in quite a bit of...
- Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: My Department has engaged Pobal to manage programmes and administer programme funding over the past two decades across a number of different programme areas including early years care and education, or child care, youth services and the ABC scheme co-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies. The largest of these relates to the administration of child care schemes and associated activity with that...
- Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: I did not hear the last part of the question.
- Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: Legal advice sought by the parent Department of Pobal has indicated there is no obligation on Departments to tender the contracts or arrangements made with Pobal for the management of funds, and that reflects the Teckal principle of EU procurement law, which states that open advertising and tendering rules for public contracts do not apply where a public body obtains services from in-house...
- Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: The issues the Deputy has raised are important and it is an opportune time for him to raise them. This issue needs to be examined. It it is important to state that my Department's work, engagement and moneys which are determined in respect of Pobal are legal and regularly scrutinised at executive level between my Department and Pobal. I have indicated that we will conduct a review in...
- Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Sector (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: Strong engagement with the early years sector has been a hallmark of my time as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I have travelled throughout the country to meet childcare providers within their own services, to meet City and County Childcare Committees and to speak first hand to childcare providers, parents and to children. On becoming Minister I established the National Early...
- Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to say that the Working Group referred to by the Deputy held its inaugural meeting on 19th January 2018. The group is co-chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Health. The group is made up of senior officials from both Departments with representatives from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency and the Health Service Executive. The key...
- Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Detention Centres (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: HIQA undertook an inspection of Oberstown Children Detention Campus in March 2017. The Deputy is referring to a statement in the Report of the finding of that inspection. This stated that there were three formal reports to Tusla for which no acknowledgements were received. I am advised that the reports referred to were sent to Tusla in accordance with procedures in existence...
- Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: As I recently advised the House, I am in the process of setting up a Selection Panel to oversee the independent selection of representatives to a Collaborative Forum of former residents of mother and baby homes and related institutions. For the avoidance of any confusion, I would like to clarify that no invitations have issued to participate in the Forum itself. The...
- Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Rights (22 Feb 2018)
Katherine Zappone: The Deputy will be aware that the Report Card is an established accountability tool for the Children's Right Alliance (CRA) and its more than 100 member organisations. It has since 2009, used the Report Card to scrutinise progress on the commitments to children in the Programme for Government. The most recent Report Card explores progress during 2017 against commitments in the...