Results 4,101-4,120 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Under the Child Care Act, 1991, as amended, and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has a statutory duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. Where appropriate, children who are in need of care and protection are received into the care of the State under the Child Care Act, 1991, as amended. Regulations...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 391 and 392 together. Assisting childcare providers in extending their existing childcare services, or establishing new childcare services, have always been key areas of focus for my Department's capital programmes. The 2018 Early Years and School Age Childcare Capital programmes provide two strands of funding for the set-up or expansion of childcare...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am committed to supporting the Child and Family Agency in meeting the growing needs of children and families. I was pleased to secure an additional €40.6 million for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in 2018. This is the third year in succession that Tusla has received a significant increase in its funding, which now amounts to over €753m. The extra resources secured...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to confirm that an extra €1.5m has been allocated in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2018. This will bring the total current youth funding available to my Department to €58.9m. The additional funding is being used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people. My Department administers a range of funding schemes and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I have written to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to request the information outlined by the Deputy. A further response will issue when the information has been supplied. Tusla publishes figures on a quarterly basis to indicate the length of time a case is awaiting allocation, by priority level. At the end of Q3 2017, the most recent validated data published, 63% of high priority...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Child Care Act, 1991 applies to all children resident in the State irrespective of their immigration status. Under the Child Care Act, 1991 and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, Tusla has a duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care or protection. The Agency is obliged to provide care for these children for as long as their welfare requires it. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Aftercare Services Provision (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy is aware, the responsibility of my Department for children and young adults leaving institutional care relates specifically to those who are or have been in the care of the State. As the Deputy will also know, the aftercare provisions of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 came into force on the first of September last. This means that there is now a statutory obligation on...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides financial support to a large number of organisations involved in the provision of services to children at risk. Grants are issued to service providers that work in conjunction with Tusla, as well as to local school completion projects and to voluntary organisations. The total expenditure in the form of grants paid by Tusla came to some...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (1 May 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. The funding schemes support national and local youth work involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in youth services and communities throughout the country. In 2017, an amount...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Cyberbullying Issues (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am conscious of the issue referred to by the Deputy. The internet is an increasingly valuable resource for everyone, including children and young people, but it also exposes people to new risks, including the risk of cyberbullying. A range of Government Departments and agencies have a role in relation to internet safety, including: the Department of Justice and Equality, which has...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Provision (1 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Concerns and stress, at different levels of severity, experienced by children and young people can arise from many aspects of their lives, from issues related to, for example, their home or school life, physical or mental health, health risk behaviours, parental relationships, friendship networks, social disadvantage, life experiences as a being part of minority or marginalised group, being a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Asylum Support Services (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Separated children seeking asylum, who are in care, are allocated a social worker. While they may receive services from social care workers, their dedicated point of contact remains their allocated social worker. Children who are with their parents or families, and applying for asylum, remain in the care of their parents. They may receive supports from social workers or social care...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Asylum Support Services (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I have written to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and will provide the information to which the Deputy refers once I have received it.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, approved revised Policy, Procedures and Best Practice Guidance for Foster Care Committees in February of last year. I can confirm that one of the issues that arose during consultation, and which has been addressed in the revised document, concerns the previous guidance in relation to the age...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Data (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, most recent figures indicate that there were 6,161 children in care at the end of February 2018. Of the children in care, 92% were in foster care nationally; there were 4,037 (65%) children in general foster care, 1,646 (27%) in relative care and 357 (6%) children were in a residential care placement, with the remaining children in other care placements...

Seanad: Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I want to inform the committee that I intend to table an amendment in respect of section 1 on Report Stage which will correct an error in the drafting of the section. The Minister referred to in this section of the Bill is the Minister for Education and Skills when, in fact, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has responsibility for the functions of the educational welfare service....

Seanad: Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Again, I want to inform the committee that I intend to table an amendment or, perhaps, a number of amendments on Report Stage in order to address issues that may emerge with regard to changing the definition of a child and the impact this may have on the operation of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. The change to the definition of a child for the entirety of the Act will have implications...

Seanad: Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Senators so much. It is really helpful to hear both of them speaking about the intention behind the Bill and the way in which it impacts on or influences this particular section. As the Senators would both be aware, the issue about which we are speaking would have been one of the more challenging ones dealt with in the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 which established the National...

Seanad: Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I intend to table an amendment on Report Stage that will remove the citation at section 6(3)of the Bill. The Bill does not propose any amendment to the Education Acts 1878 to 2007 and as such this section of the Bill is not required.

Seanad: Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (2 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I intend to table an amendment on Report Stage to correct an error in the Long Title. The Long Title of the Bill refers to the National Educational Welfare Board. This amendment will update the Long Title to reflect the current position, namely, that the board is no longer in existence and that its functions were transferred to Tusla educational welfare services. As Members know, in order...