Results 3,981-4,000 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Guidelines (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla's response to all reports of child welfare and protection is detailed in the Tusla Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook, which is available on the Tusla website (www.tusla.ie).  This covers both the immediate and initial areas of consideration and the various responses Tulsa offer to children and families to ensure child protection and welfare concerns...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Consultancy Contracts Data (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department engages a wide variety of professional services to provide advice within a particular field of expertise where such expertise is not readily available within my Department. This ranges from archaeology services to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes to ICT related professional services, such as web design and maintenance. Other areas include graphic...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Legislative Measures (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Since the establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in 2011, none of the legislation enacted or published by this Department originated in work carried out by the Law Reform Commission.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla has advised that the number of permanent staff employed by Tusla in each of the year 2014 to 2017 and up to the 28 February 2018 (latest data available), is as follows: 2014 2015 2016 2017 Feb-18 Headcount WTE Headcount WTE Headcount WTE Headcount WTE Headcount WTE 3666 3265.61 3835 3238.79 3738 3326.81 3821 3424.09 3859 3433.53

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla has advised that the number of agency staff deployed in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in February 2018 (latest data available), is as follows: December 2014 307 December 2015 225 December 2016 280 December 2017 503 February 2018 453 Given the front-line nature of Tusla's services, agency staff are essential to ensure services for vulnerable...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: From September 2018, all children meeting the minimum age requirement of 2 years and 8 months will be eligible for a full two programme years on the Early Childhood Care and Education programme (ECCE). This measure refines the development introduced last year and increases the duration of each registered child on ECCE from a current average of 61 weeks, to a potential duration of 76 weeks...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: From September 2018, all children meeting the minimum age requirement of 2 years and 8 months will be eligible for a full two programme years on the Early Childhood Care and Education programme (ECCE). This measure refines the development introduced last year, whereby three intake dates were adopted, and will increase the duration of each registered child on ECCE from a current average of 61...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the provision of care and protection to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. In discharging its statutory responsibility, Tusla supports 20 emergency refuge and support services in providing services for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Twenty four community-based domestic violence support...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Support Services (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1343 and 1344 together. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency is responsible for the administration of the Family Resource Centre Programme. A high number of applications - 47 in total - were submitted to Tusla, who carried out an assessment process. The assessment included consultation with Tusla staff in operational and regional roles, and with...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff Data (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department currently employs four temporary clerical officers (TCO's) who came from the Public Appointments Service (PAS) Temporary Clerical Officer panel in May, June July and October 2016 respectively. All four TCO's have been provided with contracts to undertake specified project work, on completion of which, their services will no longer be required. Permanent clerical officer...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (17 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: From September 2018, allchildren meeting the minimum age requirement of 2 years and 8 months will be eligible for a full two programme years on the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme. The current take up of ECCE averages at 61 weeks, up from 38 weeks when ECCE was first introduced. From September 2018, all eligible children can avail of two full years of ECCE (76 weeks). This...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am committed to the protection and welfare of children and believe that there is a moral duty on Government and on society to work together to protect children and to ensure their safety. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I have sought to maximise the resources available for this important work and the effectiveness in the deployment of these resources. From my...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Internet Safety (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I can confirm that the development of an Action Plan is being coordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach, that officials from my Department are participating in the process and that actions for inclusion in the Plan are being considered as part of this process.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Counselling Service (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 to 225, inclusive, together. Persons affected by experiences connected to mother and baby homes may wish to contact the HSE National Counselling Service (NCS) which provides free professional, confidential counselling and psychotherapy services in all regions of the country. Persons seeking access to this support and other health services can contact the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Garda Vetting of Personnel (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: As you are aware, matters relating to Garda vetting, carried out under the National Vetting Bureau Act 2012-2016, fall under the remit of the Department of Justice and Equality.  The Deputy may therefore wish to ask the Department of Justice and Equality to respond to specific queries in relation to any new vetting procedures or Garda vetting forms. The National Vetting Bureau...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. It was introduced in June 2016 and is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the...

Seanad: Childcare Support Bill 2017: Second Stage (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce the Childcare Support Bill 2017 to the Seanad. In March, the Bill completed its passage through the Dáil, following positive and constructive engagement with Deputies. There was cross-party support for the Bill and cross-party collaboration on a number of amendments which have strengthened the Bill and resulted in the text we now have...

Seanad: Childcare Support Bill 2017: Second Stage (18 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I warmly thank Senators for their words of support for the Bill. It is great that they support it, although it does not surprise me. At the same time, it is important for me to receive their encouragement in respect of the Bill and my ongoing work on childcare and early years education and care. I genuinely mean that. I found the contributions of Senators thoughtful and their excellent...

Topical Issue Debate: Voluntary Sector Funding (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Scouting Ireland commissioned Mr. Ian Elliott to carry out a review into the organisation's handling of an allegation of a serious sexual assault on an adult volunteer by another adult volunteer. While this alleged assault took place in 2009, it was only reported within the organisation in 2016. The purpose of the review was to examine all matters surrounding the reinstatement of the...

Topical Issue Debate: Voluntary Sector Funding (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I assure the Deputies that children, young people and volunteers are at the centre of my attention, which is part of the reason for this decision. I will listen to what Scouting Ireland has to say this evening and then decide on the next step with the Secretary General of my Department. It is mid-April and Scouting Ireland has funding until the end of June, which gives it two and a half...