Results 3,801-3,820 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Constitutional Amendment on Children (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: In conjunction with the 31st Amendment to the Constitution Bill I have produced the General Scheme of the Draft Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2012 the primary purpose of which is to set out legislative changes to follow on from the Constitutional Referendum on Children, if passed. - The provisions of the draft Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2012 aim to amend the Adoption Act 2010 (the '2010 Act') to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The issue raised by the Deputy is at the heart of the Government's programme of reform of children and family services. The need to realign existing services and to provide earlier intervention is accepted and was emphasised in the recent Report of the Task Force on the Child and Family Support Agency (CFSA). The Task Force emphasised the importance of identifying problems and providing...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Education Welfare Service (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was established under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000. The NEWB is a statutory agency under the remit of my Department. It has responsibility to ensure that every child attends school regularly, or otherwise receives a certain minimum education, to support regular school attendance, tackle problems of absenteeism and to provide an educational...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department has a range of services in place for young people. Funding of some €56.806m is available from my Department in 2012 to support the provision of youth services and programmes to young people throughout the country through a number of schemes. These schemes include the Youth Service Grant Scheme, the Special Projects for Youth Scheme, the Young People's Facilities and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childhood Obesity (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Tackling obesity among children and young people requires a cross-departmental, cross-agency and multi-faceted response and health promotion and greater awareness is central to this response. All relevant Government Departments and Agencies, including my own, have a role. My Department has a key leadership role to play in this area through overseeing the on-going implementation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy will be aware that I published the Heads of the Children First Bill in April 2012. The purpose of the Bill is to ensure that organisations and professionals who work with children have a statutory responsibility to report reasonable concerns about the abuse or neglect of children in their care to the HSE Child and Family Services. Children First has operated on the basis of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Funding provided by my Department provides support to youth services which also offer a range of counselling supports to young people. Teen Counselling aims to provide a professional counselling service for young people and their families who are struggling with behavioural and emotional difficulties and to inform, support and complement the role of the State sector and other voluntary...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Psychological Services (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The type of research initiated through my Department’s National Children’s Research Programme and, in particular through the National Longitudinal Study of Children - Growing Up in Ireland - is providing us with a wealth of valuable data on all aspects of children’s development, including their psychological development. One of the aims of the study is to provide evidence...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Issues (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: If any person has a concern about a child, this should be reported to the HSE Children and Family Service local Social Work duty service. If a child is in danger outside of office hours, the Gardaí should be contacted. This information, and the relevant contact details, are available on both my Department's website, www.dcya.gov.ie and the HSE website at www.hse.ie. The Deputy will...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (26 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Government established the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to drive the delivery of key commitments in relation to children and young people. The Department was set up in June 2011 with a mandate to put in place a unified framework of policy, legislation and provision across Government in respect of children and young people. The Programme for Government commitments include: -...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Logan.

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank colleagues for their contributions and fulsome support for the Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill which we have been debating over the past couple of days. Deputy Connaughton is correct that the issue is now about communicating it properly to the public. This is extremely important. It has been interesting to see the cross-party support for the amendment and...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputies. I wish to make a few general comments regarding the amendments. It is widely acknowledged that what we are doing in asking the people to vote on a constitutional amendment relating to children is long overdue, much needed and historic. It represents a hugely symbolic and enduring practical measure centred on the welfare of children, to be entrusted by this generation...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I understand that.

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Deputy Ó Caoláin will remember that one of the key issues of equality with which the committee was concerned - of which I reminded myself - was that the present constitutional framework in certain cases creates a difference in treatment between children of marital and non-marital families, for example. Deputy Ó Caoláin will accept that it is clear in the amendment that...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Throughout the provisions we refer to "all children" and "any children". I previously indicated why we had moved from the phrase "cherish all of the children" and chosen a particular formulation. The phrase "cherish" does not have as strong a legal meaning as the wording I have chosen, on which I was advised, which is "recognises and affirms the natural and imprescriptible rights of all...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Deputy Joan Collins referred to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The State has signed and ratified the convention, as have all but two countries in the world. We ratified it some time ago. That has been an influence in terms of the best approach to understanding children’s rights. It has been that way internationally. In the provisions we are making we are not...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Article 42A.2.1o seeks to effect a balance between the rights of children at risk, on the one hand, and those of their parents, on the other. The change will not alter the fact that it is the primary duty of parents to care for and protect their children. It is only in exceptional circumstances that the State will intervene. There must be a failure in parental duties towards the child...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: This provision in the new amendment places an obligation on the State to enact legislation to provide that in the proceedings of the kind identified the best interests of the child will be the paramount consideration. That in itself is extremely important. Giving constitutional recognition to the principle that the best interests of the child should be the paramount consideration in these...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Sep 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I refer to a number of points made and to the report of the Oireachtas joint committee. Deputy Ó Caoláin made a point about the rights of the child. We have been discussing the current formulation of the wording which states the rights differently to the way the series of rights were named in the report of the joint committee. We are not dealing with education and that right...