Results 5,461-5,480 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The words are formulated to ensure that we hear the views of the child. I am satisfied that this is broad enough to take account of the points made by Deputies. If the child is capable of expressing a view these should be ascertained and employed in a variety of ways. It does not limit the hearing of those views to an oral expression of them. It is quite inclusive and will ensure that the...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 23: In page 13, subsection (4), lines 38 and 39, to delete “or the Adoption Act 2010” and substitute the following: “, the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, the Adoption Act 2010 or section 8(1)(c) or 8(3)”.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is not limiting. This provision is intended to focus on the special and unique relationships between the service delivery systems in the education and health areas with the effective functioning of the child and family agency. Services under the remit of the Departments of Health and Education and Skills must work in tandem with the agency's functions and may, in fact, depend on one...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is very clear that any Minister can engage with the agency. There is no question of that. This is a specific requirement in an annual report relating to health and education because of the care pathways of children and the service issues that arise in those two areas. It is obvious that the agency will engage with a variety of Ministries. The statement that the Minister for Health and...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is unacceptable.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have already responded. I find it unacceptable-----

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I find Deputy Ó Caoláin’s comments unacceptable because I have clearly considered in detail the range of amendments proposed. I have already indicated that I am prepared to consider some amendments and to revert to Members on Report Stage. I could equally make the same comment but I will not. I have given reasons for each of the amendments we have discussed. They are...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 25: In page 17, subsection (3), line 34, to delete “sections” and substitute “section”.Amendment No. 25 to section 16(3) corrects an error in the first print of the Bill and replaces the word “sections” with “section”. Amendment No. 41 to section 54(1)(a) corrects an error in the first print of the Bill and also...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I certainly approached the appointments to this board in the spirit of appointing the very best people to do the job of managing the agency with the CEO while being a strong board. I have looked for expertise that is appropriate to the running of an agency that has 4,000 staff who have transferred from other sections of the public service. This is a significant transition and a significant...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: The board is not a large one; it is a small board. I am talking about the future, not merely the current time. If I were to accept this amendment, it would be too prescriptive. The part of the Bill that deals with the role of the board is such that the kind of experience and expertise that are regarded as needed have to be in matters connected to the functions of the agency. It is...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 27: In page 21, subsection (6), line 17, to delete “5 ordinary” and substitute “4 ordinary”.The objective in the amendments is to amend section 22(6) to provide that the quorum for a meeting of the board shall be four ordinary members and the chairperson or deputy chairperson. It is a drafting amendment to bring clarity and precision to the...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 28: In page 21, subsection (6), line 18, to delete "of whom one shall be" and substitute “and”.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 29: In page 31, subsection (2), line 30, to delete “subsection (2)” and substitute “subsection (1)”.This is to correct an error in the Bill.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have made my points on this. It does not preclude consulting and working with other Ministers in other Departments.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 31: In page 35, subsection (8), line 13, to delete “chief executive officer” and substitute “chairperson”.This replaces the words "chief executive officer" with "chairperson", which reflects the appropriate governance relationship.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Section 21(1) clearly states, "the board shall be the governing body of the agency with authority, in the name of the agency, to perform the functions of the agency." Section 21(3) states, "the board of the agency shall be accountable to the Minister for the performance of its functions". The Minister’s relationship to the agency will be to the board of the agency. Sections 41 and...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: My responses are not intended to undermine the work the Deputies are doing in this area. If I believe an amendment is not going to improve or clarify the text, then I cannot accept it. If I accept this amendment, it will have implications for many other sections where we have not inserted the term “board of the agency”. It is understood my relationship to the board of the...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: Many of my amendments reflect the development of the Bill from the time it was first published.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is an unnecessary amendment. It would not be possible for the Minister to give a direction that is inconsistent with the agency's functions, as the agency can act only within the parameters set out in section 8. It is important that directives issued by the Minister are clear, realistic, capable of being implemented and achievable. It is reasonable to expect that a ministerial...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 34: In page 35, subsection (4), line 36, to delete “chief executive officer” and substitute “chairperson”.Amendments Nos. 34 and 35 to section 47(4) correct an error in the first print of the Bill, replacing the words “chief executive officer” with the word "chairperson." These amendments will clarify that the line of...