Results 8,541-8,560 of 11,816 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. The award-winning access and inclusion model, AIM, has supported more than 27,000 children with a disability to access and meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme since it was first introduced in September 2016. A commitment to expand AIM beyond the ECCE programme was first made in the First 5 strategy. The fulfilment of this commitment was to be informed by an...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I caught a small amount of the hearings on TV earlier on today. Yes, we do hope to publish the report by the end of this year. As the Deputy knows, AIM right now supports access to three hours per day or 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. Our aim at the start is to enhance that to allow up to a full day, and move it beyond the 38 weeks of the ECCE year to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I agree with the Deputy in that this is a really positive move in terms of expanding access to AIM. It is something I and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, would have spoken about as a way to support children with a disability. As the Deputy knows, we are also bringing in the brand new equal participation model, and I think that will be seen in a number of years as being as...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Strategies (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The youth homelessness strategy steering group was established in January of this year under the auspices of the national homeless action committee of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Its purpose is to drive the delivery of all the actions set out in the national youth homelessness strategy and monitor progress. My Department is represented on this group, which...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Strategies (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: In terms of the elements our Department is responsible for, we identified, and this is identified in the youth homelessness strategy itself, that young people leaving care are some of the most vulnerable to falling into homelessness. That is why through my Department, working with Tusla, we prioritised the aftercare strategy for Tusla. It is part of its wider continuum of aftercare looking...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Strategies (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Focusing on those young people who are most vulnerable is the best area for Government and for all Departments to focus their resources. As I said, I have set out what we are doing in terms of people exiting care. Another key group that has been identified and, indeed, Focus Ireland did a very good study on this, are young LGBTI+ people who are at risk of homelessness, particularly in terms...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Asylum Seekers (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is committed to doing all it can to support all those seeking refuge in Ireland. As the Deputy said, there is significant pressure to find sufficient suitable accommodation for all who seek it. Ireland has provided accommodation to more than 99,000 people between those fleeing the war in Ukraine and international protection applicants. That compares to 8,300 people in early...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Asylum Seekers (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. As we are on record, it is important to correct his point. I have never sent out a tweet inviting people to Ireland. At the time we published the White Paper we sent out tweets letting people know the changes that were being made, because as the Deputy knows there are a lot of people in the international protection process who wanted to see what changes were being made....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Asylum Seekers (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. Just to be clear, 800 international protection applicants are not arriving in the State every week.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Asylum Seekers (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I think the most recent figure was about 325 per week and it was somewhere between 250 and 350 over the last number of weeks. At one point in recent weeks the number of Ukrainians arriving was 800, but it is important we get the figures right.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Asylum Seekers (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are working closely with Tipperary County Council to resolve the issue in Cashel. As I have said, it is a core principle of our Department that regardless of how much pressure we are under to meet accommodation needs, we are not going to interfere with existing homelessness services. As I said, we are looking to resolve the particular issue in Cashel right now. Ireland, like every other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Safety (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: When an accommodation centre is opened, a designated member of IPAS is responsible for informing centre management of its mandatory obligation to ensure that all staff who are working with children must complete the Children First e-learning module. The designated member ensures that centre managers are categorised as designated liaison persons under Children First and notifies them that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Safety (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy has referred to both Ukraine and international protection. Regarding Ukrainians, the existing responsibilities of accommodation owners in terms of Garda vetting and child safeguarding policies apply. In the context of international protection and, in particular, the report of the ombudsman, I have clearly set out the child safeguarding measures that apply. Undoubtedly, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Safety (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are proposing to open a significant amount of accommodation in the Deputy's constituency. It will be solely for Ukrainians. There will be no commercial element to it. I will come back to the Deputy in writing about Garda vetting and the child safeguarding procedures that will be in place in respect of that accommodation. No doubt similar requirements will apply in Stradbally and other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Earlier this year, the Work Life Balance And Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 was signed into law. It includes five days leave paid for victims of domestic violence. I am pleased to confirm that the provisions relating to domestic violence leave will be commenced on 27 November. From that day, people will be entitled to claim the leave where needed. Once introduced, Ireland will become...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Paid parents' leave was originally introduced by the previous Government and offered two weeks of leave per year per parent. At the time, we saw a significant imbalance, in that mums took that leave but dads did not. During the Covid-19 pandemic, that changed. We have now extended it by so much that by August of next year, paid parents' leave will have gone from two weeks per parent per...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. He is right. When we were doing the consultation on the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, one of the big issues that employer groups raised was that their members, particularly small and medium-sized business, were nervous about domestic violence leave. They were nervous about getting that knowledge from their employees and what they were to do with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. He and I have spoken and corresponded on the issues pertaining, in particular, to Cork city. Of course, the availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government policy. The early years sector profile shows there is a national vacancy rate of 12.3%. There is a slightly lower vacancy rate of 9.8% in Cork city....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. As he knows, there have been specific challenges in place in Cork in recent weeks. The city childcare committee has been very engaged. I know of at least two services where the current owners have indicated they are closing or selling. The county childcare committee has done a lot of work to try to find new people to come in to provide community services. Work is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Nov 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I fully agree with Deputy Ó Laoghaire that early learning and childcare is a public good. When I came into office, we were spending €638 million per year on it but by next September we will be spending €1.1 billion on it. We have responded and recognised that through investment. One of those investments is the capital scheme, which will be a competitive scheme. Existing...