Results 5,901-5,920 of 11,754 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: DNA Database (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Institutional Burials Act 2022, which came into effect on 15 July last, provides the underlying legislative basis for an intervention, whereby the remains of those who died and were buried in a manifestly inappropriate manner, may be recovered and re-interred in a respectful and appropriate way. It also provides for the identification of remains and their return to family members, where...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Last month, I was pleased to announce a €10m Capital Grant for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector. The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant is part of a wider Building Blocks Capital Programme for Early Learning and Childcare under the National Development Plan. Grants will range from €35,000 to €75,000 across two separate strands: Green Energy and Retrofit. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Last month, I was pleased to announce a €10m Capital Grant for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector. The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant is part of a wider Building Blocks Capital Programme for Early Learning and Childcare under the National Development Plan. Grants will range from €35,000 to €75,000 across two separate strands: Green Energy and Retrofit....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In answering this question, it is important to note that the Scheme is one element of a comprehensive package of support measures agreed by the Government to respond to the priority needs of survivors and former residents as part of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. Following intense deliberations on what are very complex...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government does not wish to disregard or diminish any person’s experience and recognises that there are people who suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions and outside of institutions who will not qualify for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme. The Commission found that the named Mother and Baby Homes were ‘unquestionably the main such homes...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Services with Early Learning and Care (ELC) graduate Lead Educators/Managers will receive an additional allocation through the ELC Graduate and Manager Premiums where they apply. In order for a service to be allocated an ELC Graduate Premium, the Lead Educator in an ELC room and/or the Manager of an ELC or a combined ELC and School Age Childcare (SAC) service and must hold an appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Income thresholds are monitored on an ongoing basis relative to income information from the Central Statistics Office and considering measures of relative income poverty thresholds. The National Childcare Scheme is designed to implement various adjustments reflecting the policy decisions and priorities of Government. Such adjustments may be to subsidies or income thresholds amongst other...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (20 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since publishing A White Paper to end Direct Provision and to Establish a new International Protection Support Servicein February 2021 my department has placed a significant focus on delivering these reforms. A new, dedicated Transition Team has been established in the Department to drive implementation of the new model. Governance structures have put in place in the form of a Programme Board...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The funding being provided is record-breaking.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The providers are getting a very large amount of additional funding.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: White Papers (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator for raising this extremely important matter, which is close to my heart. We emphasised this matter when we brought forward the White Paper to end direct provision in February of last year. I will outline some of the achievements that have been made since the White Paper was published. We created a unit within my Department to implement the White Paper. We established...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: White Papers (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: There are approximately 4,500 people living in international protection centres with status. We will not charge them rent. They are entitled to full social welfare if they are not working, although many of them are. Some of them are in centres where they get free food points. It is not particularly fair that, on top of the supports that everyone else gets, they are getting these...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Child Care (Placement of Children in Foster Care) Regulations, 1995 and the Child Care (Placement of Children with Relatives) Regulations, 1995, stipulate that the allowance payable to foster carers and relatives shall not be less than an amount specified by the Minister. Foster carers are paid a weekly allowance, which is a payment to meet the needs of the child in their care. The foster...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 488 and 513 together. The ECCE programme is delivered over 3 hours per day, 15 hours per week and 38 weeks of the year. There is no charge to parents for the ECCE programme. ECCE capitation is paid to providers in respect of each eligible childr enrolled. In 2010, when the ECCE Programme was first introduced, the standard capitation was €64.50, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 489 and 515 together. On 15th September, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare as recommended by an Expert Group in their report ‘Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model For Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare’. This new funding model supports the delivery of early...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 490 and 516 together. The Government is investing significantly in the early learning and childcare sector and there is an ambitious new funding model being introduced to improve stability and sustainability for providers. There are supports, financial and otherwise, available to services who need them. Services are independent operators and may close for a...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 491, 514 and 517 together. Services which have financial or other sustainability concerns can avail of supports through the case management process. My Department oversees this process, through which local City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to ELC and SAC services experiencing difficulties. CCCs...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, and the invoking of the Temporary Protection Directive by the European Union shortly afterwards, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis. The operational challenges brought about by responding to the conflict are significant. Our country has never experienced an influx of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Staff (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Department's Communications Unit/Press Office has 11 members in total, with staff responsible for communications and press office duties including social media management. Unit Staff Communications unit/Press Office 11

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Family Resource Centres (25 Oct 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme which provides funding support to 121 Family Resource Centres across the country. My Department allocates core funding for the Family Resource Centre Programme and since 2018 has provided an additional €4.5m bringing Tusla's core budget to €18.0m for Family Resource Centres. Tusla had also...