Results 4,801-4,820 of 11,745 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I hope to address the concerns the Senator raised, although I cannot support this amendment. The decision to specify that the application for the tracing service should be made to Tusla was taken after careful consideration of how the application process for the various services provided under this legislation would work, particularly in respect of the user experience and ease of...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Section 42(2) in the Bill as passed by the Dáil provides a mechanism whereby the preferences recorded by the current national adoption contact preference register will be transferred to the new contact preference register to be established. This amendment deletes the part of section 42 that achieves this necessary function and does not replace it, leaving a subsection that does not...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot accept this amendment, although I understand the spirit of it. Part 7 of the Bill, which relates to the safeguarding of records, has been carefully developed to provide clarity to the adoption authority and to the holders of records. The authority must have the ability to consider whether records are in fact relevant and I believe it is far more sensible and practical for the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator for raising these two issues in his amendment relating to an appeals and complaints mechanism and a review of the legislation. I will address both issues. As regards the first point, I understand, and I think we all know from our engagement on this issue over the past two years, in my case, and for a lot longer in the case of the Senator the level of mistrust that has...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would separate the issue of appeals from the issue of complaints. My belief is there is no need for an appeals mechanism because there is not a decision to be taken in terms of "Yes" or "No" or "Issue information" or "Do not issue information". If a relevant person applies under this legislation, he or she is now legally entitled to all the information on him or her held by the relevant...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I take on board the point the Senator made and will take it into consideration when, assuming the legislation is passed, the power of the Minister's role in regulation is bestowed on me under section 67. On the wider points made by the Senator regarding the fact that an individual should not be put into a situation where he or she has to rely on GDPR, that is the preference and what we are...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Work has already begun on the information campaign because, as the Senator knows, once this legislation is passed, the three-month period kicks in immediately. We have been working to commence that. The AAI has engaged with the National Adult Literacy Agency on making sure the information and material produced as part of this campaign meets the criteria and is easily understood. We are...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will address amendment No. 126 first and then I will speak to the general point. As it stands, section 63 provides specifically for a parent who is registering a preference of no contact to be informed of his or her entitlement to avail of counselling support. Counselling support for relevant persons is also covered in this section and is drafted to ensure those who need it most are...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In respect of the obligation, we recognise the particular vulnerability of parents in situations. We discussed at length earlier today and at our previous debate the issues regarding striking a balance when it comes to privacy rights, and for some parents, and I believe they are in a minority, their concern about protection and their not being contacted. Earlier in this process we changed...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will take amendment No. 130 first. When I spoke to Senator Boyhan's amendment No. 108 earlier, I indicated that I was open to reviewing the text of section 70. I am, therefore, a little disappointed in Senator Boyhan's comments suggesting this is all being railroaded through. I said I would respond to that and I have indicated to Senator Higgins that I will respond to some of her...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Wards of Court (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Justice, as the court services are under her remit.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Rights of People with Disabilities (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 20 March 2018. This marked an important milestone in a process to strengthen the rights of people with disabilities in Ireland that has gathered momentum since Ireland became a signatory to the Convention in 2007. Ireland submitted its Initial State Report on the implementation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Safety (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department has had no engagement with the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, on the matter raised by the Deputy. As a result of the Deputy's question, my Department contacted Tusla and they gave us the following information about the situation:   -On the 26th January 2022 the HSE published the Maskey Review into the care received by children and young people at South Kerry...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Immigration Support Services (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is committed to delivering a humanitarian response to welcome people seeking protection in Ireland as part of the European Union's overall response. The scale of response to this crisis has been unprecedented and Irish people have displayed an incredible level of generosity in their support and pledges of accommodation. The Irish Red Cross has put in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In March 2021, following publication of the Independent Review into Illegal Birth Registration,  I asked Professor Conor O’Mahony, the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, to consider the significant complexities and challenges which arise in relation to the issue of illegal birth registrations, and to provide a report proposing an appropriate course of action. On 14th...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Immigration Support Services (1 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Vulnerability Assessment Pilot is still ongoing.  However, due to the Ukrainian crisis, the completion of the review into it has been delayed as staff from the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) were temporarily diverted to support the work to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. A timeline for the completion of the pilot cannot be given until this review has been...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Accommodation (2 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will list and describe the various categories of such accommodation. There are seven State-owned accommodation centres in the interactional protection accommodation services, IPAS, portfolio. These buildings are owned by the State and companies are contracted as service providers at each of those centres. Commercial centres are privately owned and operated accommodation centres....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Accommodation (2 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Undoubtedly, there is a challenge being faced now. It one caused by the combination of the war in Ukraine and other major international conflicts, such those in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, that are generating greater movements of people. There are also issues in respect of changes in approaches to immigration and asylum law in other countries that are having an impact here as well....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Accommodation (2 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The State must undoubtedly play a greater role but it needs to be a role centred on an approach based on human rights and an approach that believes in integration from day one. This is not solely a matter of accommodation, and I know the Deputy is not suggesting it is. Accommodation is important, but so are integration supports and ensuring that people seeking international protection are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Direct Provision System (2 Jun 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy will be aware, I published a White Paper to end direction provision and to establish a new international protection support service in February 2021. In the 14 months since its publication, my Department has placed a significant focus on the delivery of the new model of accommodation and supports for international protection applicants. As the Deputy will appreciate, the...