Results 11,081-11,100 of 11,997 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Instruction to Committee (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 233(2), Standing Order 187 is modified to provide that it be an instruction to the Committee on the Maternity Protection Bill 2024, that it has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing subject matter of the Bill, in order to provide for: amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998, to restrict the use of...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Instruction to Committee (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Deputy Kerrane for her contribution. We will have the opportunity to discuss the provisions of the Bill in depth tomorrow, in respect of the original two proposals which are, as we know, to introduce a right for women to defer maternity leave for up to a year if they become ill during their maternity leave and allow them recover for the particular serious illness they are facing but...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Special Educational Needs (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: In line with emerging best practice to support the integration and independence of children with a disability, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) does not fund Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). Rather, Level 7 of AIM provides financial support to the preschool provider, which is used either to reduce the adult-to-child ratio in the preschool room or to buy in additional assistance to the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since March 2022, when my Department was faced with the unprecedented crisis of processing and accommodating over 110,000 people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine arriving into Ireland, my Department utilised the services of Deloitte to support the delivery of its response at pace and scale, particularly in a highly resource-constrained environment. In the initial phase of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259m of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding. This funding increased by 11% to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am very pleased to have secured an increase in youth service funding by 9% for 2025, bringing my Department's investment under our main youth budget subhead to a total of €84.9 million. This increased level of funding will enable the expansion of youth service capacity to engage more young people, across both universal and targeted youth services. This will include the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: In line with commitments in First 5, in December 2021, I launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare, 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare and to raise the profile of careers in the sector. The Plan includes role...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Disability Services (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding is a payment to Partner Services designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management. To receive Core Funding, Partner Services must uphold their contractual obligations as laid out in a Partner Service Agreement. Pobal, on behalf of my Department are responsible for the day-to-day management of Core Funding in their role as Scheme Administrator. In...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: National Development Plan (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question and would ask, at the outset, that he understands that my response is constrained by considerations of commercial sensitivity and the need to protect the State’s ability to achieve maximum value for money. The National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-30, published in 2021, outlined €165 billion in funding to support capital programmes and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (22 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 619 and 620 together. My Department does not collate the information in the manner requested by the Deputy in relation to the specific number of such instances where a current or potential service provider was not the outright owner of the property where beneficiaries of temporary protection were residing, and who had not obtained permission from the owner...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No.1: In page 3, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: "PART 1 PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL Short title and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024. (2) This Act, other than section 6, shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Children,...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The amendments in this group are largely technical in nature. Amendments No. 1 and 15 propose a change to the Short and Long Titles of the Act, respectively, to reflect the proposed addition of sections related to non-disclosure agreements and preservation of records, which were not part of the published Bill. Amendment No. 1 further provides for the commencement of different sections of...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will leave it there then and allow the Deputy to speak about his amendment.

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy referenced it earlier in the process, and I thank him for bringing it forward. I will make a broader point and a specific point on this particular issue. The campaign to extend to women who were ill the ability to postpone maternity leave was first introduced by the Irish Cancer Society. It was originally for women who were experiencing cancer during maternity leave. That is a...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “Expenses 2. The expenses incurred by the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, be paid out of monies...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, to delete lines 17 to 20 and substitute the following: “(10) An employee to whom subsection (1) of section 14B and subsection (1) apply shall not be entitled to postpone maternity leave under section 14B and this section in respect of the same birth.”.

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, to delete lines 23 and 24 and substitute the following: “ ‘maternity leave’ includes, where applicable, a further period of maternity leave referred to in section 8, section 13(2), or section 13B;”.

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, to delete lines 27 and 28.

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 6: In page 6, line 13, after “period”, to insert “(whether or not deferred or paused in the event of the member having a serious health condition)”. Amendment No. 6 deals with the issue of leave for Oireachtas Members. The proposal related to maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas has been carefully drafted with the Office of the...

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 7: In page 6, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “Amendment of 5. The is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following section after section 14A: “Non-disclosure agreements 14B. (1) Subject to this section— (a) an employer shall not enter into a non-disclosure agreement, and (b) where such an agreement is entered...