Results 1,061-1,080 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is a matter for each registered provider, within the context of their specific service provision, to determine whether structural amendments to their premises were / are required in order to meet the on-going public health requirements. Some services may have altered their premises for the purpose of meeting COVID-19 requirements by using temporary, demountable partitions in existing...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme. Tusla has informed me that it receives expressions of interest, from time to time, from voluntary organisations seeking FRC status. It is advisable for any organisation interested in such a process to contact Tusla directly, so that Tusla is aware of that organisation's interest in the event that...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government has introduced a number of measures to support early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services during these unprecedented times. The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), introduced in August, provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on numbers of eligible employees on payroll; and a reduced rate of employer PRSI. ELC and SAC services...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has advised that the following data is a count of admissions to care and not individual children admitted to care. A small number of children may have more than one admission. It should be noted that 'care' spans the continuum of foster care, residential care and special care. There were 856 admissions to care...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: International Protection (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Discussions are ongoing between my Department ##officials and the HSE to enable formal vulnerability assessments for international protection applicants by the end of the year. This will ensure that a coherent process is in place for both the health and non-health aspects required in formalised assessments. To assist in determining how best we can meet the health and related needs of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am pleased to confirm that I secured an additional €5 million in current funding for youth services nationally as part of Budget 2021. My officials are currently working on the apportionment of these funds in the context of the publication of the Revised Estimates Volume later this year. As such, I am not in a position as yet to provide a detailed breakdown of these allocations. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Children who arrive into the State seeking International Protection are generally part of a family group or they arrive as unaccompanied minors. Unaccompanied minors are not accommodated in our accommodation services. Unaccommodated minors always go into the care of Tusla. Tusla has a dedicated Separated Children Seeking Asylum (SCSA) Team, which has developed expertise through...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Asylum Seekers (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Officials of the International Protection Accommodation Service of my Department make every effort to ensure that residents' of our accommodation centres, including the National Reception Centre at Balseskin, have their specific needs met. They routinely identify vulnerabilities and assess applicants for any special reception needs to meet their accommodation requirements. This is especially...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question. My Department and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, closely monitor child protection and welfare referrals trends. When Covid-19 restrictions were first introduced, with schools closing on 12 March 2020, there was an initial decrease in referrals to child protection and welfare services, from an average of 1,504 per week, to 968 per week for the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department has, since 2015, administered an annual capital funding programme, under which early learning and care and childcare services can access capital funding. The purpose or target of the funding is determined on an annual basis having regard to the needs of children, families and service providers and Departmental priorities. Additional funding has frequently been assigned...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Tusla Early Years Inspectorate is responsible for maintaining the register of early years services. At present there are just under 4,700 services registered with Tusla. This includes both Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services. All services that wish to operate in the State must register with Tusla. Similarly, services are statutorily required to notify...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Childcare Scheme (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme opened in November 2019. It represents the first statutory entitlement to financial support for childcare costs in Ireland. The Scheme aims to improve children’s outcomes, support lifelong learning, make work pay and reduce child poverty. It is also designed to have a positive impact on gender equality in relation to labour market participation and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: City and County Child Care Committees (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 248 and 250 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy may be aware that I announced last week that a new accommodation centre will open in Letterkenny in January 2021. The accommodation consists of 60 apartments of 2 and 3 bedroom self-contained units, enabling residents to have own door accommodation. The accommodation centre will initially become home for families who have been identified to move from existing emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Thank you Deputy for your question on the allocation of Social Workers to children awaiting a child protection assessment or where their social worker is no longer available to them. In 2019, Tusla identified Carlow/Kilkenny/South Tipperary as one of Tulsa’s five areas needing rapid improvement. The area reduced its unallocated cases from 304 cases in January of this year to 205...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters delivered its Final Report to me on 30th October. I signalled previously that there would be a short time interval between receipt of the report and the separate arrangements for its publication. As mentioned in earlier responses, I am continuing to work with Government colleagues to expedite matters so...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Inspection process involves a site visit and follow up correspondence with centre management to alert the management company to any issues which need addressing. The report of the inspection to the centre referred to by the Deputy has recently been completed and sent to the centre's management for comment prior to finalisation. I intend to review the report of the centre and engage...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Assisted Decision-Making (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: 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 existing wardship system will come to an end within three...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Data Protection (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm that my Department has been the subject of one investigation by the Data Protection Commission since 2016. This investigation was initiated by the Commission on 30 October 2019, and involved a complaint made to it by an individual. The individual alleged that the Department had unfairly processed their personal data by divulging that data to a body under the Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm that as a result of a nationwide tendering process for accommodation for international protection applicants, my Department will open a new accommodation centre in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal in late January 2021. The accommodation centre will initially become home for families who have been identified to move from existing emergency accommodation centres to the new centre. ...