Results 19,821-19,840 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Children in Care (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: -----of approximately €38 million for next year, plus another €20.7 million was made available to clear any legacy debt. Tusla has a realistic plan to deal with all unallocated cases. The plan was put to us and we met its ask in full in terms of the resources required to implement it. Tusla was due to recruit in the region of 218 social workers. The number has risen to 256...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: The Cuan Álainn centre was established independently of the State. It opened in 2012 and is funded by Respond!. The Cuan Álainn centre provides accommodation for a range of clients, some of whom may have been in emergency accommodation provided by domestic violence refuges. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, allocates available funding for domestic violence to emergency...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I believe that this refuge should stay open and I believe it does valuable work in supporting women and children who have had to leave a violent domestic situation. I am happy to facilitate a meeting with Respond officials and to explore with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government how we can have an orderly transfer of responsibility for this. The first meeting...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: At my request, representatives of my Department and the Child and Family Agency met with Respond representatives on 5 August 2015, and at that meeting, Respond indicated that due to a lack of resources it would be unable to continue to run the Cuan Álainn centre and that its board had made a decision to close the service by the end of the year unless funding was obtained. I will leave...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: -----that it needs to take such pre-emptive action. I want this service to be maintained. I am more than happy to meet Mr. Brennan, and that is being organised. I want to arrange for officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to be present as well. Let us resolve this issue and not have women and children who have been distressed and traumatised by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: On its establishment on 1 January 2014, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, took over responsibility for the family resource centre programme, which was previously operated by the then Family Support Agency. Tusla is spending €13.09 million in 2015 supporting 109 FRCs around the country. Funding has been maintained this year at 2014 levels. Tusla very much values the work of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I remind the Deputy that from 2011 to 2014, this country started on a recovery from the greatest financial crisis it had ever endured, and for Ireland to regain its financial sovereignty, it was necessary to reduce funding for virtually all services. Consequently, in 2014 it was a reflection of the Government's commitment to this area that it was able to maintain the funding for 2014 into...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: First, I am not quite sure what the Deputy means by stating the Government is rationalising domestic abuse services.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: There will be ongoing consultation between Tusla and the services it funds. As the Deputy is aware, there is a huge amount of volunteerism within this sector and I take every opportunity I can to congratulate and thank sincerely those who give so freely of their time in this regard. Approximately 40,000 volunteers work in the youth sector alone and then the family resource centres are in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: As stated previously, on its establishment on 1 January 2014, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, took over responsibility for the family resource centre programme which was operated by the then Family Support Agency. Tusla is spending €13.09 million in 2015 in supporting 109 family resource centres nationwide, and as I stated earlier, funding has been maintained this year at 2014...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: In respect of the funding for Tusla, I believe its request pertaining to unallocated cases and its business plan to deal with that was met fully. As for its overall request for funding, the agency had concerns about some incoming legislation and its possible cost, but if one reads the statement on Tusla's website, and I will paraphrase the last line because I cannot remember it precisely, it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla engages regularly with the Family Resource Centre National Forum. Earlier this year, the forum highlighted its wish to discuss various issues, including recent changes by Tusla to structures and funding, among other matters. Tusla had a productive meeting with the forum on 7 July last in which the following items were discussed: closer local liaisons between the family resource...

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: The school completion programme aims to improve the school attendance, participation and retention of young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage. The programme provides targeted supports to approximately 36,000 children and young people. Since 1 January 2014, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, under the remit of my Department, has had operational responsibility for the...

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: As I pointed out, the issue around school completion is far more complex than the school itself. It also involves parents and their influence on the children, as well as having other activities going on in the school. I have visited some of the schools involved and they have wonderful initiatives around cooking, art, sculpture and other pragmatic programmes involving hands. For those...

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla is comfortable to be engaged with this programme and anxious to continue to be so. It has already taken several actions to strengthen the operation of the programme on foot of the ESRI review. There have been improvements to the annual school retention plans to focus on outcomes to be achieved for children and young people in the locality. Focused discussions have commenced with all...

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Funding (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: The Tusla 2016 Estimates business case identified a requirement of €137 million over a three-year period. This included a request for additional capital funding of €11.5 million. I was pleased to be able to allocate significant extra resources to Tusla for 2016. The overall level of funding that I have provided will significantly strengthen Tusla's base funding level and will...

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Funding (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I remind the Deputy that many Departments have had Supplementary Estimates over the years; they are not new. What is different about this year is that we have been able to predict much earlier what that supplementary budget would be and therefore accommodated it in a much more transparent way than in other years where it came in at the last minute before Christmas. Allegations of three-card...

Other Questions: Child and Family Agency Funding (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla's plan will become very clear once it has submitted its business plan to me. We will consider it and it will be published. It will be very clear to every Deputy then. I wish to reassure people that when we talk about high-priority cases, these are not children in any immediate risk. Anybody in immediate risk is looked after immediately. In other words - I have given this example...

Other Questions: Inter-Country Adoptions (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Work on a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation has not ceased. It remains the aim of my Department to achieve a bilateral agreement, but I do not believe this will be possible to finalise it in the short term because of a number of difficult issues outstanding. I recently met representatives of the Russian Irish Adoption Group. I am conscious that members of the group have...

Other Questions: Inter-Country Adoptions (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I am very pleased that the Deputy acknowledges, as do all parents, that the best interests of the child must be paramount. Our problem is that the Russian State has not ratified the Hague Convention. If it had done so, we would not have this issue. The difficulties that are presenting as a consequence of our attempt to arrange a bilateral agreement are very complicated and affect our...