Results 301-320 of 11,687 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Gender Equality (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1155, 1159, 1160, 1161 and 1164 together. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 introduced the legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting in Ireland. The Act requires organisations to report on their hourly gender pay gap across a range of metrics, including mean hourly remuneration, median hourly remuneration, bonuses and benefit in kind, and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: There are a number of measures in place to support single parents. Queries regarding matters under the remit Departments can be directed to those Departments. Firstly in 2024, I announced that from 1 August, parents will be able to avail of 9 weeks paid Parent’s Leave and Benefit. This measure means that under the Parent’s Leave and Benefit schemes, the number of weeks that...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Gender Equality (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1157 and 1158 together. As the Deputy will appreciate, my time as Minister is at an end, and it will be for the next Government to progress work in this critically important area. My Department leads on cross-government policy to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and the National Strategy for Women and Girls (NSWG)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Enabling access to and availability of affordable high-quality early learning and childcare is a key Government priority. Considerable investment has taken place in recent years to improve the resourcing, quality and availability of early learning and childcare. Data available to my Department demonstrates that the level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially in recent years. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Reviews (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014 requires that a public body, in the course of it's functions, have regard to the elimination of discrimination and the equal opportunities and human rights of it's staff and service users. This obligation is known as the public sector equality and human rights duty. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Human Rights (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has written to me seeking approval for a draft Code of Practice on the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty which was prepared under s.31 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. In line with section 31(3) of the Act, the draft code is currently under review by officials in my Department. My officials will liaise with...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Programmes (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1182, 1183, 1184 and 1185 together. Ireland is becoming ever more diverse and ongoing efforts are required across Government to ensure that Ireland is an equitable and inclusive place for all. Work is underway to develop a new national strategy for migrant integration, which will address ongoing and emerging needs in supporting integration in Ireland. To...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Public Sector Pay (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department was involved in negotiations at the WRC in 2023, in relation to pay for workers of organisations funded by Tusla under Section 56 of the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013 (as amended). In the course of these negotiations, an agreement was reached whereby such funded organisations would receive a funding increase, in three phases. The value of the increase was calculated off...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Public Inquiries (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would like to sympathise with the family of the young girl who lost her life so tragically. The events leading to the tragic death of this young girl have been the subject of court proceedings leading to a settlement by the youth organisation under whose watch they occurred. The organisation in question is a voluntary organisation governed by an independent Board. It receives some of its...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Funding (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: In 2025, the Capital Grant Scheme for Play and Recreation will make €500,000 available for the development of new play and recreation facilities, the refurbishment of existing facilities and the incorporation of natural play elements. Funding is available to all Local Authorities for a project the Local Authority wishes to develop or refurbish, including projects in large urban...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding represents a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme (September 2022-August 2023) rising to €287 million in year 2 (September 2023-August 2024) and €331 million in year 3 (September 2024-August 2025). Data on Core Funding uptake and the Fee Increase Assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Appointments to State Boards (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The President appointed Mr. Liam Herrick as Chief Commissioner to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission on 25 November 2025. No other appointments were made to boards of bodies under the aegis of this Department since 1 November 2024.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Regulations (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The return of deposits is usually governed by local agreement which occurred between the parent/guardian and the service in question. In most instances where a parent/guardian provided a deposit to a Core Funding Partner Service after 1 September 2024, the Partner Service must return this to the parent/ guardian once the child’s registration is approved on the Hive or within four...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Projects (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1205 and 1206 together. As the Deputy is aware, on 22 June 2023, the UCD Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP) published a report, “Protecting Against Predators: A Scoping Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Ireland.’ The report sought to establish the level of awareness of child sexual abuse amongst key...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Projects (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Institutional Burials Act 2022 provides a legislative basis for an intervention whereby the remains of those who died in residential institutions, and who were buried in a manifestly inappropriate manner, may be recovered and re-interred in a respectful and appropriate way. Section 7 of the 2022 Act requires that Government must be satisfied that burials have taken place and must have...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Each year Pobal compiles data on behalf of my Department from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile Survey (EYSP). The most recently published data from the 2022/23 programme year is available at . Data collection for the 2023/24 survey took place between 07 May and 07 June 2024. In total, 4,022 services completed...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would like to thank the Deputy for raising the question regarding the publishing of the Parent Statements for Partner Services. Parents can access Parent Statements for the current programme year through the Childcare Search on the NCS website. Early Learning and Childcare providers provide parents with a copy of their Parents Statement as part of the child registration process....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding is a payment to Partner Services designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management, with associated conditions in relation to fee control and cost transparency, incorporating funding for administration and to support the employment of graduate staff. Partner Services must uphold their contractual obligations regarding their fees charged to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Emergency Accommodation (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 1217, 1225, 1231, 1232, 1233 and 1234 together. Due to the cold weather warnings earlier in the month, as the Deputies are aware, the Department activated its cold weather response plan to enhance safety measures for people seeking international protection. The Department’s cold weather response plan focuses on international protection (IP)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (22 Jan 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department initially commenced use of the Citywest Conference Centre in March 2022. The Citywest Transit Hub (CWTH) has two separate functions: it acts as a cross-Governmental, single administrative processing point for those fleeing the war in Ukraine; and it provides emergency accommodation international protection applicants on arrival into the State. At no time during the years...