Results 3,361-3,380 of 11,975 for speaker:Mary Butler

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: On behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline how the Department of Education and National Council for Special Education, NCSE, continue to provide special educational placements for children who need them. A priority for this Government is to ensure all...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: The Department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department continues to engage with the NCSE intensely with regard to the forward planning for new special classes for the next school year. As demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years due to...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: In fairness, the fact that all schools will have to provide this class is really welcome by everyone.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: Absolutely.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Family Law Cases (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again. I would say I have heard him raise it almost a dozen times at this stage. He is very passionate about it. It is important to discuss the recently published report of the UN special rapporteur relating to the pseudo-condition of parental alienation in family law, wherein it was found that mothers and children are being denied their human...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Family Law Cases (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, published the first family justice strategy in November 2022, which sets out a vision for a family justice system of the future. This will be a system that focuses on the needs and rights of children, a system that assists their parents in making decisions that affect all of the family, and a system that makes it easier for...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Family Law Cases (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: Well done, Deputy.

Ábhair Shaincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Matters (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: It must be Thursday evening.

Ban Private Jet Aircraft from Irish Airspace Bill 2023: First Stage (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: It is not being opposed.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: On behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I thank the Senator for raising this matter. She is right. We have made great progress in recent years and I will be able provide some clarity about the case to which she referred. At the outset, I stress that enabling students with additional needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: The Department of Education continues to work closely with the City of Dublin ETB and the NCSE in planning for the establishment of the new special school. Details regarding the admission process and the number of places to be offered for 2023-2024 in the new special school will be confirmed very shortly. Recruitment for the school is expected to commence this week, with the principal...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: International Relations (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health. I appreciate the spirit in which the question has been presented. Ireland has been significantly deepening its collaboration with World Health Organization across all levels, including with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. This closer engagement has been driven in part by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: International Relations (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: The scale of the Covid-19 response and recovery requires us to utilise all the tools and knowledge that we can mobilise to ensure we have the best defences in place should we be faced with a future global health emergency. We are all aware of the importance of global co-operation in the field of public health. Much of this is technical in nature and involves a wide variety of stakeholders....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank the Senator for raising this Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Finance. As the Senator will be aware, the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, contains a number of specific commitments relating to income tax, specifically that: from Budget 2022 onwards, in the event that incomes are again rising as the economy recovers, credits and bands...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: I again thank the Senator Byrne raising this issue. The Government is committed to supporting and encouraging workers and to reducing their income tax burden. As I outlined, significant progress has been made in recent budgets to deliver on the programme for Government income tax commitments. The summer economic statement, which will be published in coming weeks, will set out a budgetary...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: As these are operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Service Executive (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: The COVID-19 Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) was established in April 2020 in response to a public health emergency to provide support to private and voluntary nursing homes to mitigate and respond to the impacts of COVID-19. The core concept of the scheme when it was established was that the State would provide additional funding to those nursing homes that require it to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: I propose to take Questions Nos. 432, 433, 434, 435, 436 and 447 together. Fair Deal was designed to protect and support vulnerable older people, to ensure equal access to nursing home care based on what they could afford. This gives certainty to people and families. Government funding for Fair Deal is to support vulnerable older people at a time in their lives where full time care is...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Care Services (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: As these are operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Care Services (18 May 2023)

Mary Butler: As these are operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.