Results 861-880 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I have not had a chance to go through that report in detail. It was sent to me yesterday and I received it this morning. I welcome the report and I welcome the engagement of academics and NGOs in continuing to highlight what we all know is the absolute unsuitability of direct provision and the need to move to a new system. I look forward to engaging with them further. The fact that they...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I confirm I am not happy about Brexit so that is on the record. I take Deputy Costello's point and we will have a small piece in the Brexit omnibus Bill about the national childcare scheme and its application for British citizens living here post Brexit. The Deputy raised this point with me previously and I will come back to him about it if that is okay. At our last meeting, the Deputy...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. There are a couple of points. Obviously, people are living in direct provision centres at the moment and some have been there for a long time. We all recognise that is not right. In living there for a long time, however, they have become involved in their local communities and we welcome that. One of the goals of the new system is that people will not be waiting such...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy and the Chair for their points. On the wider issue of work-life balance, there are a number of initiatives that we are looking at, particularly in the context of work and gender. As the committee is aware, in the previous Dáil the gender pay gap legislation made significant progress, reached Report Stage. However, when the new Dáil reconvened, it was put back...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Chair is aware, when Covid hit in March 2020, services in all areas of society, including early years services, shut down. As a result, payments under the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme, the national childcare scheme, NCS, and the other saver schemes ceased.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Payments ceased for a number of months during the year. They resumed for services that deliver a service over the summer on 29 June 2020, and for the others, at the end of August or the beginning of September. That meant that there was a saving, particularly in the ECCE scheme and the NCS over the course of the year where payments were not being made. As the committee knows, we brought in...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I take that point. I am not sure if we will know from 1 January. It might be a little bit later. We hope to know in early 2021 if parents can take the leave at that point and claim the benefit later. We intend to have everything squared away by 1 April to allow parents to take the leave and claim the payment. We will look for clarity on that point as soon as possible. We are working to...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Further Revised) (12 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I take that point. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department provided additional support for lone-parent families under several headings in the budget.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In response to Covid-19, many measures have been put in place by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) in conjunction with the HSE.  These measures were first implemented from the time that country-wide restrictions were imposed in March and April this year and they continue to be implemented and added to for all our accommodation centres. These...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Budget 2021 (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) is a cross Departmental and multi-agency issue. Policy is coordinated by the Department of Justice and Equality (DJE). Under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of DSGBV. The Programme for Government sets out a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Programme for Government contains a committment to ending the Direct Provision system and replacing it with a new International Protection accommodation policy, centred on a not-for-profit approach.  The Government has also committed to the development of a White Paper which will set out how this new system will be structured and the steps to achieving it. My Department is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: City and County Child Care Committees (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Officials of my Department are currently reviewing the Workplace Relations Commission's consideration of the pay rates of the managers of the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs). The CCCs are one of the key support mechanisms of my Department, and I want to acknowledge the important role they play in providing vital support and guidance to early learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Gender Equality (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 600 and 601 together. Addressing the factors behind the gender pay gap is a key commitment in the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020, and is a multi-faceted task involving a number of Government Departments and agencies. Tackling this issue is good for equality and it also makes good business sense, as firms that can report a low or...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy may be aware, the Direct Provision system encompasses the range of State services including accommodation, food, health and education directly provided to international protection applicants through all the relevant Government Departments and Agencies. It is a whole-of-government support system for those seeking international protection in Ireland.  Notwithstanding the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: EU Directives (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Directive on Work-Life Balance for Parents and Carers aims to increase the participation of women in the labour market and the take-up of family-related leave and flexible working arrangements. It also provides opportunities for workers to be granted leave to care for relatives who need support. By modernising the existing EU legal framework in the area of family-related leaves and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Sector (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am very conscious of the need for improvement in pay and working conditions for practitioners in early learning and care services. The level of pay they receive does not reflect the value of the work they do for children, for families and for the wider society and economy. The most recent data available indicates that the average hourly wage in the sector was €12.55 in mid-2019. This...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Sector (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware, the State is not the employer of staff in early learning and care or school-age childcare services. My Department does not pay their wages nor does it determine working conditions for staff, including sick pay. I am, however, very aware of the negative impact that low pay and poor working conditions in the sector have on staff recruitment and retention and thereby...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Budget 2021 (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) is a cross Departmental and multi-agency issue. Policy is coordinated by the Department of Justice and Equality (DJE). Under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of DSGBV. The Programme for Government sets out a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters submitted its final report to me on the 30th October 2020.  I had signalled that there would be a short time interval between receipt of the report and the separate arrangements for its publication. A number of relevant procedural issues are being expedited to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 608 and 610 together. The Government is committed to fully commencing the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”). The Act provides a modern statutory framework to support decision-making by adults with capacity difficulties. The 2015 Act was signed into law on 30 December 2015 but has not yet been fully commenced. The...