Results 10,341-10,360 of 11,827 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Projects (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: In March 2022 Government approved high level proposals for the National Centre for Research and Remembrance to be located on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry in Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1 to comprise: a museum and exhibition space, the development of which will be led by the National Museum of Ireland a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Funding (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Revised Estimates for Public Services 2024, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, detail gross allocation of €7.43 billion in respect of my Department for 2024. At the end of May, gross expenditure is running €164.3 million ahead of REV profile. As the year progresses the main expenditure pressures for the Department in 2024 are in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department provides a number of schemes under the Together for Better funding model, which offset the cost of early learning and childcare to families. The ECCE programme, which provides two years of pre-school without charge, enjoys participation rates of 96% each year. Over 70% of families on low income report that they would not be able to send their child to pre-school without this...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Capital funding has been allocated to the early learning and childcare sector under the revised National Development Plan (NDP). This will enable significant investment in early learning and childcare. In 2024 and 2025, my Department is delivering capital investment through the Building Blocks Capacity Grant. The primary focus of the Building Blocks Capacity Grant Schemes is to increase...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department officials and I regularly meet with representatives of the youth sector, including young people, youth service providers and the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) who administer a number of the key funding schemes on behalf of my Department. The national youth representative network, made up of Comhairle na nÓg, Dáil na nÓg and the National Youth Assembly,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Ensuring that quality accessible early learning and school age childcare is available to families is a key priority of Government. The Programme for Government commits to increase the range of after-school services in schools or community hubs to offer a range of education and family-focused measures. Currently, approximately, 15% of all early learning and care (ELC) and school age...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Equality Issues (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: All public bodies have responsibility under Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of their employees, customers, service users and everyone affected by their policies and plans. The public sector duty assessment and implementation for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The question of total number of children currently in various forms of care has been interpreted to refer to children in alternative care. Tusla’s latest available Monthly Service Performance and Activity Report informs that there were 5,781 children in care at the end of April 2024. 87.6% (5,063) of all children in care are in foster care (3,593 general foster care, and 1,470 relative...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Emergency Accommodation (18 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for this question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Last month, the Government agreed that Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection in state-provided serviced accommodation should receive the same level of payment regardless of when they arrived. The Minister for Social Protection and I, and our officials are liaising on the operational arrangements to give effect to this change, with an estimated 12 week lead-in time to allow details to be...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Traveller Accommodation (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 115 together. Work on developing the successor National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS II) is currently being finalised and my intention is to submit it to Cabinet shortly. The successor Strategy will represent the next step in a whole-of-Government and targeted approach to improving the lives of Travellers and Roma and to ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, my Department continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing the conflict who request it, in line with Government policy. This supports BOTPs to make longer term independent arrangements if they decide to remain in Ireland. As...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Last month, the Government agreed that Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection in state-provided serviced accommodation should receive the same level of payment regardless of when they arrived. The Minister for Social Protection and I, and our officials are liaising on the operational arrangements to give effect to this change, with an estimated 12 week lead-in time to allow details to be...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: School Funding (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Capital funding has been allocated to the early learning and childcare sector under the revised National Development Plan (NDP). This will enable significant investment in early learning and childcare. In 2024 and 2025, my Department is delivering capital investment through the Building Blocks Capacity Grant. The primary focus of the Building Blocks Capacity Grant Schemes is to increase...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The ECCE scheme is a universal programme which provides 2 years of free preschool to children in the eligible age range of 2 years and 8 months to 5 years and 6 months. My Department funds private early learning and care service providers to provide the ECCE programme at a standard rate of €69 per week per child attending the ECCE programme. I would note that further funding is...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (19 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this relates to data collated by Tusla, the question has been forwarded to Tusla for direct reply to the Deputy.

Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputies for their kind remarks to me and their very detailed and considered contributions to this debate today and yesterday. Childminding happens in Blanchardstown and all over Dublin. It is a phenomenon that happens all over the country. Childminders support so many families and children. Deputy Fitzmaurice is right that some of is because of the pressure on services....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Ensuring access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. The level of capacity has risen substantially year on year between 2022 and 2023 as evidenced by survey data collected by Pobal, by administrative data from Core Funding and the National Childcare Scheme and registration data collected by Tusla. However, there is also evidence that...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (20 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is designed to provide payments and other benefits to people who spent time in one or more of the Mother and Baby or County Home Institutions, that were identified by the Commission of Investigation as having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Education and Training Boards (20 Jun 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: At the time of the launch of the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme in 2020, allocations made to all Education and Training Boards (ETBs) under this scheme were based on the number of youth services that operated under the predecessor schemes in each ETB functional area. Laois-Offaly ETB's allocation has increased since then on a similar basis to that for other ETBs. When additional funding...