Results 5,281-5,300 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Other Questions: Foster Care Provision (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy's points are well made. I recently discussed with Mr. Gordon Jeyes, chief executive officer designate of the child and family agency, whether the foster carer recruitment campaigns should be taken out of local areas and conducted instead on a nationwide basis. There is a real difficulty for social work teams who are under pressure dealing with referrals on a daily basis to have...

Other Questions: Foster Care Provision (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will answer Deputy Ó Caoláin's questions first. The Garda vetting situation impacts on a whole range of Government activities, from job activation programmes to recruitment of social workers and child care workers through to recruitment, as we are discussing today, of foster parents. Forty additional staff have been allocated to the Garda vetting office in recent weeks and we...

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Since my appointment as Minister I have consistently highlighted the importance of investing and supporting quality interventions in the early years of children's lives. There is an increasing body of Irish and International evidence which quantifies the benefits of early years interventions in terms of improving children's outcomes and in delivering significant economic and societal return...

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I never promised that.

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The group was only set up last year.

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Deputy Troy sounds as if he has read it.

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: It will be published shortly, before the budget. It is very detailed and is the blueprint I asked the group to provide for the development of the early years sector. I thank the people who put such work into it. It is a high level policy recommendation. After that, we need an implementation plan and commitment to it. There will be a consultation day. The group was only set up last year...

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: This concerns Question No. 11 but the general point about the inclusion of children with special needs in the preschool programme is well made. It is important to intervene with children with special needs as early as possible. The early school years programme is very helpful to those children. It is available free to every child between three and four years of age, including children with...

Other Questions: Early Years Strategy Implementation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I welcome the Deputy's discussion paper and the work he has done on the early years. I agree with him that this issue of special needs and access to preschool requires further study at national level. There is local variation. We have child care committees in every county and, for the first time, they are being organised at national level. That will make it conducive to finding out...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Services (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The provision of appropriate training and support for social work staff is a matter of critical importance to ensuring quality and capacity in child protection and welfare services, in particular given the challenging environments within which social workers operate. As Minister, I have overseen the introduction, for the first time, of new National Standard for child protection and welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Corporal Punishment (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Considerable progress has been made to restrict the use of corporal punishment in Ireland. Corporal punishment in schools is banned, and regulations for creches, foster care and residential settings address the use of appropriate discipline. Corporal punishment in the home, while not specifically outlawed, is governed by the provisions of section 246 of the Children Act, 2001. Section 246...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Services Provision (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 163 together. I have the utmost concern for the position that the prospective adopters who were close to finalising adoptions from Russia now find themselves in following the recent changes to the Russian adoption process. I have received a large volume of representations on behalf of the applicants involved and I and my officials have actively been...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Child Care Education Issues (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 29 and 38 together. The current free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education - ECCE programme - was introduced in January 2010 and provides a free pre-school year to all eligible children before commencing primary school. Almost every pre-school service in the State (more than 4,300) is participating with over 68,000 children, or 94% of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childhood Obesity (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Overweight and obesity are a public health priority, the primary remit for which lies with the Minister for Health who has established a Special Action Group on Obesity whom he meets with regularly to progress the obesity prevention agenda. The Special Action Group on Obesity is chaired by the Department of Health and comprises key stake-holders, including the Department of Children and Youth...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The commitment to improve the quality of early childhood care and education has been a key priority for me since becoming Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. This is why my Department and I have been progressing work on Ireland's first-ever Early Years Strategy for children aged from birth to six years. In addition, my Department has been actively driving a comprehensivePre-School...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Programme for Government commits to developing early childhood care and education as resources allow, and the Government has made a very significant commitment to maintaining the childcare support programmes implemented by my Department - the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, the Childcare Education and Training...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Legislation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 165 together. The Adoption Act, 2010, which entered into force on 1 November 2010, gives force of law to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The Act was written against the backdrop of the of the Hague Convention and a commitment to improving standards outlined in the Convention. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Legislation (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Adoption Act of 1952, as subsequently amended, provided a legal basis for adoption in Ireland and for the establishment of the Adoption Board thereby bringing order to what had been the adhoc arrangements which had previously existed in lieu of formal adoption procedures. That Act was replaced most recently by the Adoption Act 2010 which also established the Adoption Authority of Ireland....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Reports (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 18 and 36 together. The commitment to improve the quality of early childhood care and education has been a key priority for me since becoming Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I have outlined to the Dail on several occasions, and to the Joint Oireachtas Committee, eight key areas of action which I believe need to be considered and addressed as a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: When a child cannot live with his or her parents either on a short or long-term basis, the HSE will, in the first instance, seek a suitable relative or person known to the child to provide relative care. Where there is no relative or person known to the child to provide relative care, the HSE where possible, will place a child in foster care. For young people that are unable to live at home...