Results 10,881-10,900 of 11,997 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Official Engagements (1 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Department is collating the necessary information and a substantive response will issue directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Consultations (1 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Department is collating the necessary information and a substantive response will issue directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (1 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department appointed Indecon, International Economic and Strategic Consultants, in December 2023 on foot of a Request For Tender for an initial period of 18 months. My Department is currently engaging with the consultants who have been contracted to carry out a phase of research, analysis and stakeholder engagement to inform the design of the agency. This work, which is expected to take...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (1 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: This matter remains before the Court, and as such, My Department is precluded from commenting further on this matter. That been said, Government is making every effort to accommodate asylum seekers against a backdrop of unprecedented demand. However, the situation remains challenging, and the Department cannot provide accommodation to all IP applicants at this time. Due to a number...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department delivers capital funding to the sector to support capacity growth. This year, the building blocks expansion scheme is funding reconfigurations of services to enable them to increase the number of places, particularly for one- to three-year-olds. I will launch the building blocks extension scheme soon, which will make €25 million available next year in large-scale...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I might return in my next contribution to the last issue the Deputy raised. Regarding capital, we announced a capital scheme in 2023 that was drawn down this year. That will already be delivering additional places. The Deputy is absolutely right regarding existing buildings. The new capital scheme I am set to announce in the next number of weeks will allow community services, in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy knows, the JLC process is an independent process. We have improved it by the State stepping up and saying clearly to the parties that if they get a pay agreement, we will back it up in terms of meeting some of the extra wage costs for providers. It was disappointing that it took 14 months last time. I was very clear in what I announced yesterday that the allocation for staff...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot read out the information in tabular form but I will get that breakdown to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The data available to my Department demonstrates that, overall, early learning and childcare provision is expanding. The early years sector profile survey shows that between the 2021-22 year and the 2022-23 year, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 8% and the estimated number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce also rose by 8%. Data from Tusla on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Capacity is now our core challenge in early years. Four years ago when I became Minister, the challenge was staff pay, which remains a challenge. The challenge was also the cost of childcare for parents. We have done a lot to meet that. It is still too expensive for some parents but we have taken important steps. The challenge was the sustainability of providers. In year four, core...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I think the Taoiseach was speaking in the context of proposals for his party’s manifesto in the general election, so I will not speak for him. However, I am happy to speak about what my own party will be talking about in the general election campaign.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy asked my view and I am very happy to give it to him. I believe the two years of ECCE should be legislated for on a statutory basis, so that every child has the right to access ECCE. Second, I believe that in areas of high capacity, the State now needs to step in and look at providing services directly. A combined model of public provision, community provision and private...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The mother and baby institutions payment scheme opened for applications in March this year. As of 30 September, more than 5,160 applications had been received. There are 4,540 fully completed applications that have proceeded into the processing system. The payment scheme office is supporting the remainder, namely, those applicants with incomplete applications who need to provide some...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: If there are specific instances that the Deputy wants to draw to my attention - many Deputies have been involved in this area - I will be happy to examine them, as I am always happy to do. We want to make this scheme work as quickly as possible. The scheme has been up and running for seven months now. Some 1,800 people have already received payments and, as I said, over €27...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. She has spoken about an enhancement to the roll-out of the scheme that has been put in place. It is important to recognise that we are looking to make this scheme as easy as possible for people to get the initial award of a payment, a medical card or both, and to draw down the benefit. The Deputy identified a slight lacuna. A resource is being put in place to address...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I am conscious of the hurt felt in particular by the survivors and family members of people who died in Bessborough. One of the most tragic aspects of what happened in that particular mother and baby institution was the uncertainty regarding the burial places of the many children who were resident there and the many children who we know died there and in some linked...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I have had the opportunity to visit the site at Bessborough with a number of survivors and former residents. I know there are differing views on the excavation and reburial of human remains at that site. When we discussed Tuam, there was absolute agreement about the treatment of remains and the State's response. I do not think there is unanimity about the response at...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: That is a really difficult question to answer. How do we seek some degree of agreement or alignment among survivors on a site when there are clear differences as to how to proceed? I will not lie to the Deputy; I do not have the full answer for her today. There are different groups of survivors represented in Tuam but I know from my engagement when I travelled to Tuam and met survivors...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Apologies.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question. Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority for me as Minister. The data available shows that the level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially in recent years. However, I am aware that nationally, and in my own constituency as well, some parents are having difficulty in locating the type of...