Results 3,581-3,600 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care (27 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Thank you for your question.  I have requested Tusla to reply directly to you on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Funding (27 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: 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 National Development Plan as set out in the following table: National Development Plan - 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Capital...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Appointments to State Boards (27 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, provides for the appointment of a nine person Board consisting of a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson and seven ordinary members all appointed by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Appointments to State Boards must be made in accordance with Government Guidelines for Appointment to State Boards that were approved by Government and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (27 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: On Budget Day, I was pleased to announce that additional resources of almost €3.0 m were secured to support the inclusion of an additional 11 community organisations to the Family resource Centre Programme in 2018 and to support existing centres. Tusla administers the Family Resource Centre Programme, and opened applications to the programme on 23rd October, 2017. The final deadline...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I am satisfied. I have identified a process whereby my Department, working with Pobal and child care providers, carries out ongoing monitoring and analysis of the expectation of demand in terms of additional capacity or child care places. In the context of the future and work in preparing for the national planning framework in the national development plan, I have engaged in quite a bit of...

Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has engaged Pobal to manage programmes and administer programme funding over the past two decades across a number of different programme areas including early years care and education, or child care, youth services and the ABC scheme co-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies. The largest of these relates to the administration of child care schemes and associated activity with that...

Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I did not hear the last part of the question.

Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Legal advice sought by the parent Department of Pobal has indicated there is no obligation on Departments to tender the contracts or arrangements made with Pobal for the management of funds, and that reflects the Teckal principle of EU procurement law, which states that open advertising and tendering rules for public contracts do not apply where a public body obtains services from in-house...

Other Questions: Departmental Contracts (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: The issues the Deputy has raised are important and it is an opportune time for him to raise them. This issue needs to be examined. It it is important to state that my Department's work, engagement and moneys which are determined in respect of Pobal are legal and regularly scrutinised at executive level between my Department and Pobal. I have indicated that we will conduct a review in...

Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: -----as 11 from 43 leaves a few places that are not going to be able to get it this time.

Other Questions: Departmental Reports (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone:  The report the Deputy refers to was published on 29 May 2017 and I worked with the report's author, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, to develop an action plan to address the key issues raised. I published the action plan on 28 June 2017 and since then I have had ongoing engagement with Dr. Shannon and Dr. Niall Muldoon, the Ombudsman for Children, about the implementation of these actions....

Other Questions: Departmental Reports (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: On the co-location issue about which the Deputy specifically asked, what I am describing is a process whereby we are moving towards a much more substantial model of social workers, gardaí and health care workers working together in the context of the same site. One issue is the development of procedures that enable that to happen. The focus is particularly on the child who has suffered...

Other Questions: Departmental Reports (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: As Deputy Rabbitte identified, the out-of-hours services were an integral aspect of Dr. Shannon's report that required significant reform. This is an issue on which Tusla and An Garda Síochána are working together to identify reform in terms of streamlining the three existing national services. Out-of-hours services are available in four major cities and we want to augment that as...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: A key priority for me as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is to ensure access to high quality and affordable child care. I have made capital funding available immediately for this purpose and I have also secured €250 million for child care facilities under the national development plan in the years ahead. Each year Pobal conducts research on behalf of my Department to...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: What is happening? The application process for these capital schemes is well under way and I encourage providers to contact their local city or county childcare committee with any questions they might have about this process. The affordable childcare scheme will transform affordability for families. The legislation passed Second Stage recently. It will enable more parents to work if they so...

Other Questions: Irish Youth Justice Service (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I will investigate if there have been any requests for additional support and revert to the Deputy. I will also come back to the Deputy on whether research has been conducted on the paths taken by young people when they move on from Oberstown. I have met young people at St. Patrick's and Wheatfield who should have been in Oberstown but we were not able to facilitate them. There are...

Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: On budget day, I was pleased to announce that I had secured additional resources of almost €3 million to support the work of existing family resource centres, and to facilitate the inclusion of an additional 11 community organisations to the family resource centre programme. I have increased the budget for these centres from €13.5 million in 2017 to just over €16.5...

Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: Deputy Heydon is a worthy public representative for his constituency. The Deputy has put forward his arguments that these applications meet the criteria I have outlined. Ultimately, Tusla makes these decisions and recommendations to me. From my ongoing work with Tusla’s executive and board, and as I look at the different issues in the programmes providing services for children...

Other Questions: Family Resource Centres (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: From my own practice and experience, I have seen the effectiveness of community initiatives, leaders and innovators, which are what family resource centres are all about. Working in partnership with the State, they are the best way to move beyond economic and social disadvantage. That is why my heart, as well as my actions, are committed to family resource centres. All I can say is that...

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (22 Feb 2018)

Katherine Zappone: I appreciate the issues the Deputy is raising. We need that kind of communication in the context of the reform programme that we are moving towards. I have met with a number of school completion co-ordinators not just in my own constituency of Dublin South-West, but in other constituencies and regions in my travels, Kilkenny being the most recent. Members of the newly-named public service...