Results 601-620 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: After-School Support Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I have engaged quite extensively with her colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, on this issue. This is a new scheme, it is in its first year and we are in the middle of a pandemic. The manner of informing the sponsor bodies of their obligations and letting parents know about what is available has not worked as it should have and I fully accept this. This is why we have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: After-School Support Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I will be able to address some of these issues in later questions from her and other Deputies. I am always open to reviews and examining in particular new structures to ensure they operate as effectively as possible. This is why I have had extensive engagement with Deputy Ó Murchú and other Deputies on this point. A significant part of the issue is the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Attendance (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Tusla education support service, TESS, operates under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 and aims to promote attendance, participation and retention. Under section 22 of the Act, each school is obliged to have a statement of strategies to encourage regular attendance among all students. The school principal must ensure that the strategies outlined are followed, that parents are informed...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Attendance (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I have experience with children with significant degrees of autism in my constituency having extended absences. One of the key aspects is providing wider levels of support to allow those children, in some cases, to integrate partially in school through an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit, more of which have been rolled out. For children who can engage at that level, they are a fantastic...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Attendance (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has been working very hard to address that issue of very significant backlogs for children who require these services, for both the initial diagnosis and subsequent access to the services. That is crucial and I welcome the work she has been doing in that area in conjunction with the Minister for Education and Skills. It is important that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. In 2020, my Department provided funding of €25.3 million for Tusla's core domestic violence services, supporting 60 organisations in various parts of the country. The Department is also providing additional supports to Tusla to allow...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: We want to look at the Covid funding and, in light of the changed circumstances and reintroduction of lockdown, I will engage with Tusla on the Covid element over the next six weeks. It is important that, Covid aside, we have a significant increase in investment in Tusla and, in my engagement with the chair, Pat Rabbitte, and the CEO, Bernard Gloster, I outlined that I wanted to see...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The majority of the Covid money was for practical things like personal protective equipment, PPE, ICT services, extra computers so people could work at home and to enable them bring somebody in if a staff member was out sick with Covid or something like that. On the new funding for next year, that will be in the Tusla plan and once that is drafted I am sure we will get questions on it. I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Youth Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. We had a good discussion about this issue in the select committee recently. Young people have been severely affected by the restrictions brought in to protect public health during this pandemic. This has been borne out by a good deal of research, particularly a recent piece of research commissioned by my Department and undertaken by SpunOut called How's Your Head. ...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Youth Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As someone who fitted into the category of not being particularly sporty at that age, I recognise the importance of supporting the interests of young people beyond the area of sport. We in the Department have universal schemes and targeted schemes. The targeted schemes are to help young people, particularly in disadvantaged areas, but there is also the universal element. It is important...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Youth Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: There is no doubt that the move to level 5 presents challenges everywhere. The Deputy probably noticed yesterday that we continued to allow training for young teams. That is on the sports side of things but it is important for the issue of mental health, which the Deputy flagged. During the previous lockdown, a lot of youth services moved online very quickly and, as the levels of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Years Sector (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 43 together. I acknowledge the incredibly tough year that has been experienced across the sector by providers, childcare professionals, parents and teachers. The sector showed huge resilience in its initial reopening on 29 June and the subsequent reopening in September. It led the way for schools by showing how the public health guidance could be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Years Sector (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yesterday's announcement by the Government about the changes to the EWSS will obviously benefit the childcare sector. That is important to note. Childcare was the only sector of the economy where everyone automatically went on to the scheme. That was an exemption I negotiated as part of the July stimulus package. As per the new EWSS figures, almost 82% of providers' staff costs will be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Years Sector (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputies. Since I have come into this role I have been very clear that we need to change the way we operate childcare in this country. There are three major pieces of work going on at the moment which, when they conclude midway through next year, will give us the knowledge base to be able to, as the Deputy said, re-envisage how we look at childcare in this country. One of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 60 together. I agree with what the Deputy said. His questions asked about the establishment of childcare Ireland. It is a commitment in the programme for Government. It involves ensuring that childcare Ireland will expand high-quality early learning and care in school-age childcare and that we have best practice and innovation in community and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Deputy Naughten is right. That is why we need the workforce planning model to make sure there is no disincentive to staff training and continuing their education in order that they can move to higher grades and provide a high standard of care to children. We need to ensure we support providers in paying staff who are achieving high levels of training. My Department has the ECCE scheme in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: This is why we have this range of research which is being undertaken now. The funding model research is particularly important because it is looking at what happens in other European countries and how we can use State investment to target and reward providers and specifically reward staff who have higher levels of qualifications. This is essential. We are not just looking at the unit costs...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I fully agree with the Deputy on the wages and conditions in the sector. I made the point about one particular condition, namely, sick pay, which has been highlighted to me by both SIPTU and ICTU. Now that the Government is looking at a national solution to sick pay, which is very welcome, I will ensure that this solution addresses the childcare sector as well. I also fully agree with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is correct that wages account for 70% of costs on average. The wage subsidy scheme is meeting 82% of staff costs in this emergency. In this way, we have acted to ensure that even as numbers in childcare fall, as parents lose their jobs or work at home and no longer need childcare services as much or are just nervous about the current situation, we are continuing to support...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence Services (20 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question. Everyone is aware of the great importance of the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services at any time but now, in light of the current circumstances, they are particularly important. I welcome the focus by a number of Deputies on this particular issue. Improving services for victims of domestic violence is a key priority for the...