Results 1,601-1,620 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I am glad Deputy Rabbitte raised this. It is an important consideration. With regard to the rationale for using the PPS number, it is for a particular benefit - that is what is critical here - in order that we can use it to link to the Department of Social Protection and Revenue Commissioners data, thereby allowing a much faster and more user-friendly service for parents, overcoming the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Services for People with Disabilities (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: It is vital to emphasise that the Health Information and Quality Authority has never found, in all of the inspections that it has conducted, an instance where child protection services, when required, were not immediately available. Tusla has reiterated its position that all child protection concerns it receives are screened and assessed in line with Children First: National Guidance for the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Services for People with Disabilities (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire. I appreciate him asking further questions in this regard. The protocol I identified in terms of recent meetings between Tusla and the HSE is effectively an amendment of a protocol that has already been established. Tusla and the HSE, as I indicated, have been in a process of reaching out to one another to identify new ways to ensure, particularly in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Services for People with Disabilities (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I assure the Deputy that the protocols have been improved and amended effectively over the last number of months. In the past couple of weeks there was a disabilities protocol group meeting in which it identified that there will be a standardised operating procedure governing retrospective disclosures and the sharing of information as well as a number of other aspects, particularly how to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Remit (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Being homeless is distressing and stressful for children and adults alike. In the context of the Child Care Act 1991, my Department has policy responsibility for children under 18 years of age who present as "out of home" without their parent or guardian. Children under the age of 16 years who present as homeless without their parent or guardian are taken into care. Children aged 16...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Remit (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I, too, am concerned about the amount of time involved. In both my written response to the Deputy and my oral response today, I am trying to make it perfectly clear that the statutory responsibility of Tusla is for the care and protection of children who may require it. That does not necessarily mean if they are with their parents in emergency accommodation. The agency's statutory...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Remit (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I appreciate the Deputy's passion and commitment on this, and it is important we share that. It will enable a quicker resolution to these issues if we work on this together along with our other colleagues. However, I question some of the Deputy's statements. Although Tusla does not have a statutory responsibility per sefor the care of children in emergency accommodation because they are...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy is aware, there was a recent Dáil motion in respect of unaccompanied children who were previously living in the unofficial camps near Calais and work is ongoing. I am co-ordinating my efforts with the Tánaiste and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is in a position to play its part when the children begin to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Just 72 hours ago I was standing in the Eleonas camp in Athens listening to children and families. Like many Deputies who visited the camps, I was deeply moved when talking to children, in particular small children - six and seven year olds - who were as fluent in English as they were in Arabic. Like me, I am sure no Deputy thought the sight of refugee camps on European soil would ever...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan. I will do that. We require additional resources in order to ensure that Tusla will have the capacity and also the ability to manage that capacity. I have requested that a project office would be established within Tusla to manage its responsibilities and contributions to meeting the Dáil resolution. The project office will co-ordinate work within Tusla's...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I will emphasise a few points that were made in the previous reply and then I will come to the protocol. HIQA has never found an instance where child protection services, when required, were not immediately available. Tusla does not discriminate on any grounds, disability or otherwise, and all child protection concerns are assessed in line with Children First. Children have diverse needs...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Clearly, if something has been amended, it was required. I was also distressed to hear some of our mutual colleagues respond in respect of media reports and concerns around inter-agency co-operation. My understanding is that they were reviewing in terms of their response a report that was based on 2014 agreements. As I said in my earlier reply, things have moved on in terms of inter-agency...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I believe they exist and that this recent spotlight helps us to ensure in an ongoing way that they exist. I reiterate that from a Tusla perspective over which I can stand in respect of children in the care of Tusla and efforts to ensure those with disabilities receive the supports they require from the HSE that the other dimension to this debate, to which Deputy Ó Laoghaire referred,...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The new single affordable childcare scheme will make subsidies payable to services that are quality assured. This is in the best interests of children and families. Tusla provides quality assurance for child care services under the statutory registration and inspection regime. In advance of introducing the scheme in September 2017, my Department will carry out further work in conjunction...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: That is a very helpful suggestion that I will certainly consider in respect of the Deputy's last point. My Department and I, along with the county and city child care committees, are very keen to provide support, particularly to childminders, because we are aware that for many parents, this is their preference for the minding of their children and they hope and wish that they could have...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: It might be helpful to identify some of the issues that have been uncovered relating to the meetings of the working group that have taken place. The low level of registration is often explained by the fact that most childminders mind fewer than four children and that registration and compliance with the regulations are perceived by the sector to be very complicated. There is definitely a...

Other Questions: School Transport Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Along with my Government colleagues and all Members of this House, I am committed to supporting children and families who are living in emergency accommodation because they are homeless. We are making progress on the actions in Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. I wish our progress could be quicker and this is particularly the case as we approach Christmas, which...

Other Questions: School Transport Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I share Deputy Sullivan's concern about how long the free transport measure is taking. At my request, my officials have spoken with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, DRHE, to get more information on why it is taking so long to implement the scheme. They are anxious, I understand, to implement it as soon as possible. There are serious practical and logistical issues that must be...

Other Questions: School Transport Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: It is not about who and where are the children. I will go into a little more detail on some of the issues, as explained to me by the DRHE. With regard to identity and fraud, or misuse of cards, the cards must be used only by those who are eligible and each user must, therefore, be registered and the cards not transferred to someone else. There are some data protection concerns. The DRHE...

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Curran. Improving attendance and participation in education is a key priority for me, particularly regarding vulnerable children. The programme for Government, as the Deputy said, commits to publishing a new school completion strategy to further improve school completion rates, especially in disadvantaged areas. My Department will work closely with the Minister for Education...