Results 4,001-4,020 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, assumed statutory responsibility, upon its establishment in 2014, for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Tusla has worked, and continues to work, to develop an informed understanding of domestic, sexual and gender based violence, and to take account of the range of issues and the different manifestations of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Funding (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The estimated cost of extending the ECCE programme, as specified by the Deputy, is contained in the table below. These figures are based on current rates for the ECCE 2017/2018 programme year. It should be noted that this question only addresses the financial aspect of such increases. Any such changes would require revision of rules around eligibility and enrolment dates and would need to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Area Based Childhood Programme (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme is a prevention and early intervention initiative led by my Department. In last year's budget, my department secured additional grant funding to support the extension of the entire ABC Programme into 2018. An original commitment was given to support the programme to the end of August 2018 to align with the completion of the National Evaluation and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Family Resource Centres provide a holistic service of child, family and community support, and advocacy, to all children and families in their communities. Prior to the establishment of Tusla in January 2014, the former Family Support Agency was responsible for the Family Resource Centre Programme. Funding of €15.37m was allocated under the Programme in 2010 and this supported 107...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme Eligibility (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Under the Affordable Childcare Scheme, a family will be able to benefit from either a universal or a targeted subsidy. The level of subsidy will depend on the age of the child and, in the case of targeted subsidies, family income and parents' participation in work or study. Universal subsidies will be available for families whose children are between 6 months and 36 months old (or who are...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme Data (19 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Under the Affordable Childcare Scheme, a family will be able to benefit from either a universal or a targeted subsidy. The basis for determining the level of targeted subsidy will be a family's net income, rather than gross income. Given the variation in tax situations between families, it is therefore not possible to state definitively the subsidy that will be awarded to a family with a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy will be aware, the Scottish Children’s Panels exist in a very different legislative environment and framework to that prevailing in this State. Accordingly, the introduction of an analogous body is not proposed at this time. However, as the Deputy knows, my Department is currently undertaking a wide-ranging review of the Child Care Act 1991, the principal legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I can advise the Deputy that I am aware of this case. While it is not appropriate for me to comment on individual cases, I have written to Tusla and asked them to give the case the appropriate attention.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (24 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: Mental Health Services (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The objective of the Working Group is to examine the provision of psychological and mental health services for children and young people with the aim of ascertaining a clear continuum of provision, strengthening alignment and areas for improvement, centred on the needs of children and young people. The Working Group is jointly chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Services (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is responsible for out-of-hours social work services for children and young adults. As the distribution of funds between geographical areas is an operational issue, I have asked Tusla to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (24 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 (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I would like to take this opportunity to assure you my Department is fully supportive of extending the State Indemnity Scheme under the State Claims Agency to foster parents. Unfortunately this is taking longer than expected due to technical issues associated with the approvals and statutory process involved. Work is ongoing to address these matters. While we remain confident that these...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (24 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). The upper age ECCE requirement is that the child must not reach 5 years and 6 months before the end of the programme year. Some children will not be able to commence their ECCE in September...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Voluntary Sector Funding (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Arising from media coverage I became aware that an alleged perpetrator of a sexual assault was reinstated by Scouting Ireland without any further Garda vetting and was subsequently promoted within the volunteer ranks of Scouting Ireland. Funding provided by my Department to youth organisations is contingent on organisations meeting with a range of governance standards, including...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Expenditure (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department was established in June 2011 and since then it has neither received invoices nor made payments to the company in question.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Regulation of Lobbying (24 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: It is the responsibility of the person who makes, manages or directs the lobbying activity to register and submit returns. The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 does not set out any requirements for Designated Public Officials to register, submit returns or validate information contained in the returns submitted by lobbyists. Designated Public Officials continue to have obligations set out...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (25 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I have committed my Department to producing Ireland’s first-ever National Early Years Strategy later this year. The National Early Years Strategy will focus on the period of early childhood, from birth to age five, and will cover various aspects of children's lives. The strategy will take a joined-up, cross-government approach to the issue of supporting children and their families...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Provision (25 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. Finglas Youth Resource Centre is funded under my Department’s Young Peoples Facilities and Services Fund. This fund was established by the Government in 1998 to assist in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Data (25 Apr 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The figures provided in the following table are from the Early Years Sector Profile 2016/17. The figures from the current pre-school year will be published later this year. County 3-5 year olds capacity Carlow 1,689 Cavan 1,919 Clare 3,121 Cork City 3,102 Cork County 10,968 Donegal 4,197 Dublin - Dublin City 10,873 Dublin - Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown 4,926 Dublin - Fingal...