Results 2,141-2,160 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: I reject the assertion that Tusla is in any financial crisis. It is a new agency and received a substantially increased budget this year. As it develops, we will undoubtedly see where there is a need for further resources. It is undertaking work to measure this and to determine where best to put those resources. Regarding high-priority cases, these are not children at immediate risk....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Preschool Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: I thank the Deputy for his question. A key priority for the Government is to ensure that quality early years services are available to preschool children. My Department is progressing the early years quality agenda, which represents a programme of measures to support, monitor and regulate the improvement of quality standards in preschool services. A key element of the agenda is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: I assure the Deputy and the House that all children who are known to be at immediate and urgent risk are seen immediately and have a social worker assigned to them by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Comments about the HIQA report for the Cork area may have given the impression that these most vulnerable children known to Tusla were not being cared for. The children were described by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: Deputy McLellan has asked a lot of questions and I will try to answer some of them. The number of cases of children awaiting allocation of a social worker has decreased over 2014. Tusla's figures for Cork indicate a decrease of 26% in the overall number and, in the number of high-priority cases, a decrease of two thirds. The source for this is "Measuring the Pressure". However, people are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: I am glad the Deputy accepts there is no reduction in social workers. By way of further answer to his question I note that as part of Tusla's business planning process for 2015, I requested that an action plan be developed setting out the proposed measures to tackle the issue of unallocated cases. Tusla has commenced a national review of cases awaiting allocation this month to determine if...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: In the opening lines of my reply to the question, I confirmed the numbers for the Deputy. Measuring the pressure, which is done quarterly, there is a 48.6% drop in the number of children in the high priority category who are awaiting allocation to a social worker for less than three months from 2,046 in quarter 4, 2013, to 1,051 in quarter 4, 2014. We are making progress but we must make...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: I would like to correct the record of the House and the Deputy's point of view. There has been no reduction in the number of social workers. As of January 2015, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has advised that a total of 19,926 children were in receipt of a dedicated social work service. A further 7,787 children who would benefit from an allocated social worker were awaiting the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: My Department currently provides approximately €260 million annually to early years and school-age care and education services. This funding is directed towards three programmes, which aim to improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of early years and school-age care and education. These programmes – the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The School Completion Programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified under the Department of Education and Skills DEIS Action Plan. Since 1st January 2014, the Child and Family...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Poverty (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: On the 4th of December, 2014, Minister Kelly hosted a special summit on homelessness to reaffirm the Government's commitment to end involuntary long-term homelessness, including that of families with children, by the end of 2016. A number of actions arising from the summit were formalised into an action plan to address homelessness, and substantial progress has been made in implementing that...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: Additional provisions are made for children with special needs who access the free pre-school year under the Early Childhood Care and Education programme. These provisions include the option to avail of the programme on a pro-rata basis over a two year time period, and also the option to avail of an exemption to the upper age limit for entry to the programme. The majority of children...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) carried out an announced inspection of Child Protection and Welfare Services in Cork in October 2014. The investigation identified two areas of significant risk, which were immediately addressed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The remaining actions addressing the inspection findings were published in an Action Plan with specific...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Youth Strategy (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The National Youth Strategy will focus on the youth-related policy commitments outlined in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures 2014 - 2020, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People. It will be a universal strategy for all young people aged 10 to 24 years. It will have a particular focus on those who are most disadvantaged or at risk and who have the poorest outcomes and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Services (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The policy responsibility for homeless children, insofar as it extends to my Department, relates to children under 18 who are not in the care of their parents or guardians in the context of the Child Care Act 1991 and to young people who were formerly in the care of the State and presently in receipt of aftercare services. The accommodation needs of these young people will be identified as...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Child Care Education (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The Early Childhood Care and Education programme provides one free pre-school year to all eligible children before commencing primary school. This programme represents an annual investment of more than €170 million in pre-school services. The introduction of a second pre-school year would require considerable additional funding, broadly in line with the cost of the current provision....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: There have been a number of investigations into cases of historical child abuse, including for example, inquiries into the handling of allegations in the dioceses of Ferns and Cloyne, and with particular regard to State institutions, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (known as the “Ryan Report”). The Ryan Report was published in 2009 and detailed disturbing and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The School Completion Programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified under the Department of Education and Skills DEIS Action Plan. It involves 124 locally managed projects and provides...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Youth Strategy (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The National Youth Strategy will focus on the youth-related policy commitments outlined in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures 2014 - 2020, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People. It will be a universal strategy for all young people aged 10 to 24 years. It will have a particular focus on those who are most disadvantaged or at risk and who have the poorest outcomes and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: The School Completion Programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified under the Department of Education and Skills DEIS Action Plan. It involves 124 locally managed projects and provides...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (15 Apr 2015)

James Reilly: In the region of €260 million is provided annually by my Department to support a number of childcare programmes which assist parents in accessing quality and affordable childcare. More than 100,000 children benefit from this investment each year. These programmes are in addition to the support provided to all parents in the form of Child Benefit. The childcare programmes include...