Results 3,201-3,220 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (16 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Family support is an important priority for me, and the increased level of funding for Family Resource Centres in 2018 reflects this. Family Resource Centres are front-line services rooted in the communities they serve. Acting as a focal point within their communities, Family Resource Centres provide a holistic service of child, family and community support and advocacy to all children and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Social Workers Recruitment (16 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I acknowledge that the recruitment and retention of social workers is one of the biggest challenges for Tusla, with only 200-250 graduating per year in a very competitive labour market. I am fully supportive of Tusla’s proactive approach to recruiting, supporting and retaining staff across all grades. In support of this I have provided for a significant increase in Tusla’s...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Expenditure (16 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme operates over a 38 week programme year from the beginning of September to the end of June. Currently, to deliver this programme, pre-school providers receive a standard capitation of €64.50 per child per week. If a provider has been approved for higher capitation the weekly capitation payment increases to €75 per child....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Community Childcare Subvention Programme (16 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am replying to the Deputy on the understanding that he is referring to the Community Childcare Subvention (Universal) Scheme (CCSU). In September 2017, as part of Government policy to make childcare more affordable, I introduced a universal childcare subvention payment of up to €20 per week for families using eligible childcare providers for the care of children aged from 6 months to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Agencies (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Each placement with the private foster care agency referred to by the Deputy is the subject of an individual contract on a case by case basis. I am advised by Tusla that as of the 10th May 2018, Tusla has 23 contracts for foster care placements with the company to which the Deputy refers. It should be noted that children being cared for by a private foster care company remain in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Agencies (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I have requested this information from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and will revert when I have been provided with the information. It should be noted that children being cared for by a private foster care company remain in the care of Tusla at all times and have a Tusla allocated social worker. The Tusla Foster Care Committee approves all applications by the private company for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Budgets (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: A contingent liability arises in any situation where past or current actions or events create a risk of a call on Exchequer funds in the future. My Department was established in June 2011 and since then there has been limited instances giving rise to contingent liabilities. In this regard the Deputy might note that liabilities will arise as a result of the legal challenge to the outcome...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Contracts Data (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department was established on 2 June 2011 and there is no record of payments for goods or services from these companies to date.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Policy (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy is aware, foster carers are no longer covered by a commercial public liability insurance policy. Attempts by Tusla to secure continuing commercial cover have proved unsuccessful. However, I am pleased to confirm that pending a permanent solution, all foster carers have an indemnity on an individual basis where required. This is on an ex-gratia basis as a temporary measure to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in youth services and communities throughout the country. These schemes include...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Education Policy (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Educational Welfare Service of Tusla has advised my Department that it has no role in the provision of sexual health education in schools. Such provision is a matter for the Department of Education and Skills and the Boards of Management of individual schools.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff Data (15 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I have no staff in my Department assigned solely or primarily to work on North-South issues.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Public Liability Insurance (10 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: As I stated to Deputy Mitchell recently, my Department is fully supportive of extending the State Indemnity Scheme under the State Claims Agency to foster parents. Unfortunately this is taking longer than expected due to technical issues associated with the approvals and statutory process involved. Work is ongoing to address these matters. While we remain confident that these issues...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Sector (10 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Independent Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare is a critical input to the on-going reform of childcare in Ireland and is commitment in the Programme for Government. This Review seeks to: - Analyse the current costs of providing childcare in Ireland and factors that impact on those costs; - Develop a model of the unit cost/costs of providing childcare that allows analysis...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Internet Safety (10 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affair’s Report on Cyber Security for Children and Young Adults. Keeping children and young people safe online is a challenging issue that requires a whole of government approach and this is reflected in the Committee’s report. The Department of the Taoiseach is currently developing an Action Plan on online...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (10 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am very conscious that the School Completion Programme delivers a valuable service for some of our most vulnerable young people. With this in mind, the Board of Tusla convened an expert panel to identify and examine a potential revised model of good practice and governance of the School Completion Programme. The panel comprised an external legal expert, representation of Tusla Educational...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Contracts Data (9 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has utilised internal audit services provided by this company during a period when this Department was unable to recruit a Head of Internal Audit and then supported the service subsequently. A contract was signed for their services on 20 October 2014 for a 12 month period with the option of an extension of a further 12 months, which was availed of. Payments were made into 2017...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (9 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I wish to acknowledge the critical role played by staff working in the childcare sector in delivering high quality childcare services. They deserve to be recognised, valued and respected for this.  My Department does, however, acknowledge that pay and conditions are major issues facing the sector. My Department is engaging with the early years sector to explore how this can be...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (9 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to confirm that an extra €1.5m has been allocated in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2018. This will bring the total current youth funding available to my Department to €58.9m.  The additional funding is being used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people.  Funding to staff-led youth services has generally been...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Capital Expenditure Programme (9 May 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 to 257, inclusive, together. The National Development Plan sets out the Government`s capital investment priorities that will underpin the new National Planning Framework. My Department has been allocated €156 million in capital expenditure over the period 2018-2022 under the Plan as set out in the following table: 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022...