Results 4,001-4,020 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The last decade has seen a growing awareness of the fact of child abuse and neglect and its damning impact on the lives children through-out their adult lives. As a society we know that all families need informal supports and that some families in particular need specific supports to care for their children safely and adequately. We have learned through hard lessons that all services that...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am informed by the HSE that the preparatory work on the report is well advanced. I will update the Deputy further when the report is complete.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: As part of the ongoing ‘change agenda’ in Child and Family services I am committed to developing the capacity of our child protection services to appropriately and effectively address the needs of children who present in emergency situations outside of normal working hours. Two out-of-hours pilot projects, one in Donegal and the other in Cork, were commenced by the HSE in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Ombudsman for Children Reports (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Ombudsman for Children operates under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002. Responsibility for certain Ministerial functions under this Act came under the remit of my Department with effect from 3 June 2011 by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. 218 of 2011). However, the Ombudsman...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: Under the Child Care Act, 1991, the Health Service Executive has a duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care or protection. The policy of the HSE is to place children in care settings, preferably in foster care, as close as possible to their home and community. There were 6,258 children in the care of the state in August 2012, the vast majority of whom were...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Benefit Payments (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department works in close partnership with other Government Departments on a range of cross-cutting issues in relation to both policy and provision as they relate to children and young people. As the Deputy will be aware, Budget 2013 will be announced later this year and in accordance with the engagement process all Ministers and their Departments will have responsibility, in the first...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Services for People with Disabilities (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 30, 32 and 38 together. Angels Quest is a service run in the Disability Sector. Accordingly, this is a matter for my colleague Ms Kathleen Lynch, TD, Minister of State in the Office of Disability and Mental Health at the Department of Health.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE provides a wide range of services to children and families in the context of the Child Care Act, 1991 and other child care and related legislation. Services are planned and delivered in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and national child care policy which provides, inter alia, that services and staff will be: - Child Centred: the best interests of the child...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Guidelines (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children, which I published in 2011, provides clarity and guidance for individuals and organisations in identifying and responding appropriately to child abuse and neglect. It also sets out what organisations that care for or work with children should do to ensure they are safe whilst in the care of the organisation. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff Numbers (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE compiles a monthly census of employment in the public health and social care sector. The most recent figures supplied by the HSE indicate that the number of WTE social workers employed in the Children and Families Service area of the HSE was 1,300 at the end of July 2012. The number of social workers employed in the Children and Families Service area at the end of February 2011 was...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department administers a range of services and programmes for young people through a number of different schemes. Funding of some €56.806 is available in 2012 to support the delivery of these services and programmes through the different schemes which include the Youth Service Grant Scheme, the Special Projects for Youth Scheme, the Young People’s...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: All foster carers must be assessed and approved by the Foster Care Panel prior to placement of a child in their care, except in circumstances where a child is being placed in an emergency with relatives. The placement of children with relatives in an emergency is covered by Part III of the Child Care (Placement of Children with Relatives) Regulations 1995. A preliminary assessment of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department has begun work on Ireland’s first Early Years Strategy. I have received Government approval for the approach I am taking in developing to this Strategy as an innovative and dynamic blueprint for the future development of Ireland’s Early Years sector aimed at providing a coherent approach to seeking to improve the lives of children from birth to age six. One of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The national HSE aftercare policy 2012 states that all young people are assessed for an aftercare service from 16 years onwards. The length of time an aftercare service is provided is dependent upon the assessed needs of the young person, but is generally provided for up to the age of 21 years or 23 if the young person is in education. Young people in special care and high support have an...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Benefit Payments (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will be aware, Budget 2013 will be announced later this year and in accordance with the engagement process all Ministers and their Departments will have responsibility, in the first instance, for evaluating those programmes and services for which they have primary responsibility. In addition to this, Ministers will have collective responsibility for decisions on the overall...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The capital investment programme includes proposals by the HSE to increase the number of special care beds. The HSE is considering improvements in the areas of management, development and the provision of National High Support and Special Care Services and the future direction of these services in the context of a major process of change and improvement for Children and Family Social...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Consultancy Contracts (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The information sought by the Deputy is currently being collated within my Department and will be forwarded directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 209 to 211, inclusive, 214 and 219 together. It is clear from the wide range of investigation reports over many years which examined cases where children were not adequately protected, that there have been many failures of the past. These failures can be attributed to a number of factors including systemic issues regarding consistency, quality of service...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: National policy in relation to the reporting and subsequent handling of child protection concerns is set out in the Children First National Guidance. Work is ongoing in my Department to put the relevant elements of Children First on a statutory footing. The Deputy will be aware that Children First has operated on the basis of voluntary compliance since it was first published by the then...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (25 Oct 2012)

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE compiles monthly performance reports which provide an overall analysis of key performance data from finance, HR, hospital and primary and community services. In the area of children and family services this suite of indicators has recently been expanded to include new indicators aimed at capturing the responsiveness of services to referrals of concerns. These indicators include...