Results 1,261-1,280 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Okay. Deputy Ó Laoghaire asked about adoption legislation. I know Deputy O'Sullivan and all the members of the committee have an interest in this. I remind them that the Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016 was the first Bill to be brought into this Dáil for Second Stage debate. At that time, it may have seemed like we would have a long wait for the publication of the adoption...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: This is cases where the child is at risk.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: We are seeking some additional support in the budgetary process for the Adoption Authority.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank members for their questions. Senator Devine's first question referred to the fact that delays are being experienced by some graduates in registering with CORU, the registration body, which would put them in a position to get a job. I am aware of and concerned about that. A successful candidate awaiting registration may be offered a three-month temporary contract as a project...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The figure is quite low across the board; 5% do not have a social worker but we need to bring that down to 0%. It is important to identify that. The second aspect of the Chairman's question referred to the services that need to be accessed for children even if there is a social worker and he or she is effective and meets with the child regularly. I am aware of all the challenges in that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I will ask Mr. Dermot Ryan or Ms Michele Clarke to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: That is one specific example of the efforts by me and the Department to ensure improvements in inter-agency co-operation in terms of Tusla and other agencies, which we are aware is a challenging issue. It is important to examine specific settings, arenas and examples of how to do that. This is one area to do that in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Yes, absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Deputy Ó Laoghaire asked about pay, particularly in respect of the ECCE programme, and how the Department is responding in terms of capitation rates and so on. We are aware this is a huge issue. As the Deputy may know, I launched a report, Breaking Point, this week, which highlighted the particular problem in the context of community services and children who are disadvantaged. Our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: A question was asked about the area-based childhood, ABC, programme. We are contractually committed to all of the ABC programme sites until June 2017, and we will fund accordingly. I am seeking money in the budget for a continuation of the programmes until the end of 2017. I am also going to examine closely the results of the evaluations. Evaluations of the ABC programmes are under way...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 40 – Department of Children and Youth Affairs (5 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: It is a complicated question and a complicated and difficult scheme. That is one of the primary reasons we are working carefully and diligently to ensure we have a new one.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff Data (6 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I can confirm to the Deputy that there are no participants on Community Employment (CE), Gateway or Tús schemes within my Department. My Department participates in the Willing Able and Mentoring (WAM) Programme. This is a work placement programme which aims to promote access to the labour market for graduates with disabilities and build the capacity of employers to integrate...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (6 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has advised that there was a scheduled contract renewal meeting in respect of existing services between Tusla Residential Care and the Chief Executive Officer of the provider organisation on September 27 2016. The matter of the proposed Centre was briefly discussed. There was no discussion about referrals to the new venture and no assurances given. In...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (6 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Deputy has asked specifically about the provision of a Special Needs Assistant. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not fund these services. However, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is a new programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the free pre-school programme, was introduced in June 2016 and is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (6 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Deputy has asked specifically about the provision of a Special Needs Assistant. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not fund these services. However, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is a new programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the free pre-school programme, was introduced in June 2016 and is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Funding (6 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has a number of agencies under its remit including Tusla, the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. In accordance with the budget allocation system operated by my Department each individual agency is allocated a budget at the start of the financial year. Following these allocations each agency provides my Department with a profile of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Funding (11 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: In 2016 some €2.6m has been allocated to my Department for a capital funding scheme for youth projects and services. The scheme was open to projects that are funded by the Department under the Special Projects for Youth scheme, Young People’s Facilities and Services Fund, Local Drugs Task Force Projects scheme and Youth Information Centres scheme. The scheme was also open to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services (11 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Health and Safety Regulations (11 Oct 2016)

Katherine Zappone: There are no commercial State agencies under the aegis of my Department. The public bodies funded through my Department's Vote are the Adoption Authority of Ireland, The Child and Family Agency (Tusla), the Children Detention School and the Ombudsman for Children's Office. My Department also provides the primary source of funding for Gaisce, the President's Award. Gaisce is a limited...