Results 19,701-19,720 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (16 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: The majority of children with special needs are able to access the free pre-school year, provided under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, in mainstream childcare services, without the provision of any additional supports. In the region of 65,000, including children with special needs, avail of the free pre-school provision each year. There are a number of measures...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Services (16 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla, along with other agencies, provides counselling and support to children and families availing of the Agency's services. I am advised by Tusla that they do not routinely collect data in relation to the number of children on waiting lists or the average length of time they must wait to see a counsellor. Tulsa funds a large number of counselling organisations, the majority of which...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (16 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: Thank you for bringing this to my attention but as the Deputy will appreciate, it is not appropriate for me to comment on an individual case. I have forwarded the information supplied by the Deputy to Tusla, and I requested a short report on the matter. I will revert to the Deputy with appropriate information when the report is received.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (16 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: The Government provides €260 million annuallyto a number of childcare support programmes that assist parents with the cost of childcare. This figure includes over €170 million provided annually to support the universal free pre-school provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. I understand that in the current school year the service in question...

Seanad: Children First Bill 2014: Second Stage (21 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: I am pleased to have the opportunity today to introduce the Children First Bill 2014 to the House and look forward to engaging in a constructive debate as the Bill proceeds through the various Stages. The Bill represents an important and necessary extra protection in the child welfare and protection area. It meets the commitment in the programme for Government to put key elements of the...

Seanad: Children First Bill 2014: Second Stage (21 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: I thank the Senators for their contributions and general support for the Bill. We will have the opportunity to discuss it further on Committee Stage. I note that several issues have been raised, some of which I can address today and some of which I will remark on today although they do not form part of the Bill. The issue of criminal sanctions on mandated persons has been raised. Taking...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: Amendment No. 1 proposes to substitute the words "what other" for "whether another" in the proposed new section 88A(2) of the Children Act, as contained in section 6 in this Bill. The purpose of section 88A is to introduce a new power to transfer children between remand centres, where the remand centre to which the child is being transferred caters for that class of child or where the...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: Amendment No. 2 proposes to insert the words "in language that is appropriate to the age and level of understanding of the child" into section 143(2) of the Act. Section 143(2) already provides that where a court proposes to impose a period of detention on a child, it shall give its reasons for doing so in open court. It should be noted that the amendment proposed to section 143 is in Part...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: Amendment No. 3, which I proposed, will provide for an amendment to section 201A(7) of the Bill. The amendment proposed relates to an important issue regarding an explanation to the child of the processes and procedures to be followed where there is an adverse finding of a disciplinary breach only without the imposition of a sanction. The amendment will provide that the director will inform...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

James Reilly: I thank all the Senators for their very constructive approach and comments. The amendment process in both Houses has helped to improve the Bill. All 16-year-olds who need to be detained are to be in Oberstown from 2016. We have been moving incrementally towards this point. This is a very important Bill. It will end the legislative process required to ensure children no longer end up in...

Confidence in Taoiseach, the Attorney General and the Government: Motion (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: It is difficult to understand why this motion is before the House.

Confidence in Taoiseach, the Attorney General and the Government: Motion (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: The facts speak for themselves. The Government established an independent commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the retirement of the Garda Commissioner. These circumstances were investigated for months by a retired Supreme Court judge. The commission has now considered all the evidence and concluded that the Garda Commissioner decided to retire and could have decided...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: Various practical efforts have been made in recent years by my Department and others, including the HSE, to support mainstreamed pre-school provision for children with special needs. These include: more flexible rules regarding access to the free pre-school year, the provision on a limited ad hoc basis by the HSE of funding towards the cost of pre-school support assistants in some areas,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: After-School Support Services (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: My Department administers a number of programmes which provide after-school and out-of-school childcare, including: The After-School Childcare (ASCC) Programme, which provides after-school childcare for primary school children of eligible parents for a period of 52 weeks. This Programme contributes €40 per week for an after-school place or €80 per week in situations where...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme provides a free pre-school year to all eligible children, in the age range 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months, before they commence primary school. This Programme, which has an annual cost of over €170 million, benefits in the region of 67,000 children every year. To deliver the free pre-school year, a standard...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency is providing funding of €13.09m to the Family Resource Centre Programme in 2015, the same level overall as in 2014. There are currently 109 communities supported through the Family and Community Services Resource Centre Programme funded by Tusla. Tusla values the work of Family Resource Centres and recognises the positive impact of their work in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: As these are operational matters, I have asked Tusla - the Child and Family Agency to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: As these are operational matters, I have asked Tusla - the Child and Family Agency to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: Funding of more than a quarter of a billion euro is invested annually by my Department in childcare services with the greater proportion of this funding going to support three national childcare support programmes - the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, and the Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programmes (i.e. the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Aftercare Services (22 Sep 2015)

James Reilly: Aftercare is a term used to describe the planning and support put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving statutory care at 18 years of age, to assist him/her in making the transition to independent living. It is essential that all young people leaving care are provided with the type of transitional support that their individual situation requires. Aftercare is available...