Results 801-820 of 6,188 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The second part was about access to civil legal aid.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: My last question was a general one on wardship procedures rather than specifically relating to the investment issue. Aside from the investments that are managed by the Courts Service on behalf of wards, does Ms Farrell believe there are other things that the State should be doing for wards of court, in terms of providing for their social, economic or medical needs? Should the State be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Go raibh maith agat. I thank the witnesses very much for appearing before us. I have one or two brief questions on the investment - a lot of it has been rehearsed already, so I will not cover all the ground - and one or two more general questions on the operation of the wards of court system. The first concerns the spectrum growth fund that has been referred to. Is that growth fund in use...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: At the time of the economic crash - obviously the downward trend was over a period of two years - was consideration given to reinvesting part of the fund in more secure items? Obviously equities took a bit of a hit during that period. Was the possibility of adjusting it ever discussed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Is it possible that money might have been invested on behalf of a ward of court on a date shortly before the economic crash and the ward of court would have to rely on that fund for expenditure during that period? I do not know if any such cases have come before the Courts Service yet. Is it conceivable that such people could have realised a loss, perhaps their investment in the fund had...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: It is difficult for us sitting here to reconcile very legitimate and articulately expressed concerns and views about losses that people experienced and implications for the care of their loved ones with what is being presented here. We will consider it and prepare our report having considered all the documentation. I urge Mr. Quigley to remain open to engagement with the Justice for Wards...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I asked what else could be done to support wards. One of the points made is that settlements, compensation or funds should perhaps be disregarded for items such as medical cards, payments etc. Has the Department of Justice and Equality had any communication with the Department of Health or the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Wards of Court: Discussion (11 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: If it is brief.

Leaders' Questions (12 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The young have long been treated as an easy target for budget cuts. In the first few austerity budgets, young people were singled out for particularly vindictive treatment. Third level fees skyrocketed, there were cutbacks to unemployment benefits for those under 25 and youth services were cut to the bone. The message of successive Governments, first...

Leaders' Questions (12 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Tánaiste referred to 15% unemployment. As I said, that is still the rate for young people. She spoke of the reality I outlined. That is the reality for young workers. Any young workers to whom I speak are on a treadmill that is getting faster and faster as the cost of everything that matters to them in their lives, whether insurance, housing or anything else, increasingly...

Leaders' Questions (12 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: -----on the basis of the Government's policies of ever having a permanent home.

Leaders' Questions (12 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: What price?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Deputy Mitchell conveys her apologies. The Deputy asks about the extra efforts being taken by the Department and the Government generally in regard to youth poverty and child homelessness, both of which are related, and asks that the Minister to make a statement on the matter and outlines what actions were taken in the budget to deal with this.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: As the Minister stated, these are cross-sectoral issues and there are many Departments responsible for them. Nonetheless, in terms of the Government as a whole, it is fair to say that the number of children in emergency accommodation, at almost 3,000, is at quite a shocking level at this stage. The related welfare issues are quite serious. There is the issue of food poverty and its...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I am aware the Minister has committed moneys again in this year's budget to the area-based programme on tackling child poverty. The Minister also mentioned the family resource centres, which I would be a strong advocate of. What is the Minister's vision for the area-based projects over the next few years because there are some projects which are the remnants of Atlantic Philanthropies'...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: This follows neatly on from Deputy Anne Rabbitte's last question. It relates to Tusla and the initiatives being undertaken to ensure, in particular, the retention of social workers, as well as the resources required to recruit more social workers. This is obviously a very important issue. I welcome the additional moneys for Tusla which was one of the priorities identified in Sinn...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Minister for her response. This is not the first time a response from the Government has compared our system favourably with that in place in Britain or, specifically, England, but I do not think we should compare Ireland with England. The English social care system is in crisis and almost anything could be compared favourably with it. So many of the issues, controversies and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Staff (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I take the Minister's point that turnover rate is currently at 7%. When we dealt with this issue 12 months ago, we were talking about losing 150 social workers a year, which was very significant. I would like to pass on some observations made to me by social workers on matters I have previously raised with Mr. Fred McBride at committee level. One was that there previously was a grade of...

Other Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Funding (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Perhaps the Minister can comment on how she has dealt with some of the anomalies and gaps that exist in the free preschool year scheme.

Other Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Funding (17 Oct 2017)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The issue of capacity goes beyond mere places. We have previously discussed issues like capacity and the sustainability of the sector. Does the Minister believe the additional funding that is being provided will lead to improved pay? How does she intend to ensure the many lower-paid people working in this sector, who are overwhelmingly female, will see their pay increase on foot of this...