Results 5,301-5,320 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

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

Frances Fitzgerald: A very significant reform programme is underway in the pre-school inspection service. This involves the introduction of new national standards against which all services will be inspected. This will bring about greater consistency and transparency in the inspection process. All new reports completed by inspectors are now being published on-line, providing open access to the public to...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: My legislative priorities for this Dáil session are to introduce the Children First Bill and the Children (Amendment) Bill and to progress the Child and Family Agency Bill through the Houses. The Government approved the drafting of the Children First Bill on 24th July 2013. The draft General Scheme and Heads of Bill had previously been considered by the Oireachtas Committee on Health...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE compiles monthly performance reports which include statistics in relation to children in care. These reports are published on the HSE website. The latest published report shows that in May 2013 there were 6,441 children in care, of which 4,065 (63.1%) were in general foster care and 1880 (29.2%) in care with relatives. The most recent statistics available on the duration of care...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy will be aware that I published the Draft Heads and General Scheme for the Children First Bill 2012 in April 2012 and immediately referred the Heads of Bill to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children for consideration and advice. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children published their report in July 2012. A number of submissions were received as part of the...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: It is my intention to introduce new qualification requirements for the pre-school childcare sector starting in September 2014. This will be an important new development as, at present, staff working in childcare services other than under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, are not subject to any requirement in respect of qualifications. The ECCE programme introduced...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Expenditure (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Expenditure, funding requirements and how resources should be prioritised and allocated across each area of Government spending are generally considered as part of the the annual estimates cycle and budgetary process. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time on any future decisions that may be taken by Government in the context of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Agencies Issues (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Formal appointments to the Board of the Family Support Agency will be confirmed in the immediate future. Pending the establishment of the Child and Family Agency, the existing statutory functions of the Board of the Family Support Agency will remain in place and require to be discharged. The Family Support Agency Board will also be asked to provide, on an administrative basis, oversight of...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE compiles monthly performance reports which include statistics in relation to children in care. These reports are published on the HSE website. The latest published report shows that there were 6,441 children in the care of the HSE in May 2013, of which 5,859 children had an allocated social worker, while 582 children did not have an allocated social worker. Unallocated cases are...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: There are currently 3 children detention schools in the State: Trinity House, Oberstown Boys and Oberstown Girls schools. All are located on the same campus at Oberstown, near Lusk, Co. Dublin. These schools currently accommodate girls under 18 years of age on admission and boys under 17 years on admission whose detention is ordered by the Courts on remand or on conviction for criminal...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: Since the broadcast of the Prime Time programme my Department has received a large volume of correspondence and submissions in relation to the events outlined in the programme. My officials are examining the wide range of proposals and suggestions made and these are being considered as part of a comprehensive response to the events highlighted in the programme. In relation to the...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 34 together. At the outset, I would emphasise that the two matters raised by the Deputy, domestic violence and corporal punishment, are discrete issues. Responsibility for the prevention of domestic violence rests with the Department of Justice and Equality. In so far as the HSE provides domestic violence services to victims, responsibility...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, the Ombudsman for Children is an independent officer of the State and accounts for her statutory functions to the Oireachtas. As Minister, I have certain functions and responsibilities for the Ombudsman for Children's Office under the Ombudsman for Children Act, 2002. This primarily relates to governance matters, most notably the funding of the Ombudsman for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Detention Centres (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I would like to inform the Deputy that earlier this year I obtained the approval of the Government to draft the Children (Amendment) Bill 2013. This Bill will provide for the amendment of Parts 9 and 10 of the Children Act 2001 on the basis of the Heads and General Scheme of the Bill which were then published. The Bill is currently being drafted. It is intended that the Bill will be...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: The HSE has advised me that they are committed to designing and developing a comprehensive continuum of services to meet the divergent and complex needs of all children in care. In 2012, the HSE initiated an in-depth review of all residential care services for children and young persons. This review will assist in mapping and reinforcing the various stages along the continuum of care...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department supports the delivery of a range of youth work programmes and services for all young people, including those from disadvantaged communities, by the voluntary youth sector. These schemes include the Youth Service Grant Scheme, the Special Projects for Youth Scheme, the Young People’s Facilities and Services Fund Rounds 1 and 2, Local Drug Task...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Proposed Legislation (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: Social Workers Recruitment (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I want to acknowledge the challenges facing our child welfare and protection services and the pressures facing social work teams around the country. The service is operating in a climate of increased demand particularly in the area of child neglect. Since 2006 the number of referrals of child protection and welfare reports has almost doubled from 21,000 in 2006 to 40,000 in 2012. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Support Agency Establishment (19 Sep 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The title of 'Child and Family Agency' in my view more accurately reflects the range and scope of services to be provided to children and families by the new organisation. The title should not be interpreted in any way as a dilution of the importance of support services for children and families as part of the remit of the new Agency. When legally established the Child and Family Agency...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware of the anomalies with respect to adoption by step-parents and am examining how to address these issues including the requirement, as part of step-parent adoption, for a natural parent to 'adopt' their own child and the creation of a new birth certificate recognising the newly-adoptive parents and possibly removing the recognition of a birth parent. These provisions first...