Results 3,681-3,700 of 11,893 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: From the Seanad (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. In terms of the reasoning for the introduction of a concluding year, as I described earlier and as many Deputies will know, county homes had multiple purposes from the 1920s. They succeeded the poorhouses into the 1930s and 1940s and by the 1960s, many of them had ceased. Some did not cease. Some developed into nursing homes provided for by...

Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: From the Seanad (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: We have debated the institutional payments Bill extensively in both the Dáil and Seanad. It has undergone at least 30 hours of debate across both Houses. It is important that we get this legislation passed prior to the end of the term in order that we can enact this legislation and put in place the mechanisms so that survivors can make applications and draw down the payments and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 175 together. The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents meet the cost of early learning and childcare and to support better outcomes for children. There are two types of supports available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age under the National Childcare Scheme:Universal Subsidies are...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Rights of the Child (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is firmly committed to ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, several legislative measures have been implemented which were necessary to ensure that Ireland is in compliance with the obligations of the Optional Protocol. Enactment of the Criminal Law (Sexual...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: In September 2022, Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare, was launched. This new funding model brings together three major programmes, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and Core Funding. All Partner Services who participate in Core Funding must...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Housing Provision (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: An allocation policy has been developed and approved for the allocation of the rapid build units. Priority criteria are being applied by DCEDIY in allocating the units, prioritising families of four located in the county / counties close to the site. DCEDIY will make decisions on assignments to the accommodation based on the priority criteria.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Referendum Campaigns (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: On 8 March 2023, the Taoiseach and I announced that a referendum will be held in November 2023 to amend the Constitution as recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality and the Special Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality. An Inter-Departmental Committee, involving all Government Departments and chaired by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Maternity Leave (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Maternity Protection Act 1994 and the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004 provide a pregnant employee with six months of paid maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave, alongside other entitlements such as breastfeeding breaks which will be extended to two years following the birth of the child through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Defective Building Materials (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Some €69 million has been allocated to the early learning and childcare sector under the National Development Plan (NDP) 2023-2025. This will enable significant capital investment in early learning and childcare across three pillars:Building Blocks - Improvement Grant;Building Blocks - Capacity Grant; andBuilding Blocks - Innovation Grant.The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant is now...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: State Bodies (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: In 2023, the Government has for the first time allocated more than €1 billion to early learning and childcare – a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector. Over the past eight budgets, investment in Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) has risen from €260 million in 2015 to € 1.025 billion in 2023, reaching the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Equipment (5 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I wish to inform the Deputy that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has no record of any instances in which this Department used unlicensed software and/or lapsed licenced software and that no payments have been made by this Department to remedy unlicensed software and/or lapsed licenced software.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The money for the integration teams was secured by my Department in budget 2023, so it is available for this year. It is there. It has been given. There has been extensive negotiation with the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and the County and City Management Association, CCMA, on the provision of this. That money is there. The Deputy is correct about what direct provision...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am committed to tackling disadvantage through high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible. In line with a commitment in First 5 and informed by recommendations in Partnership for the Public Good, officials in my Department are currently tailoring a policy response to progress the development of a new strand of funding, the equal participation model. Through...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would like to advance a significant number of issues in this year's budget. We have spoken about some of them already, such as cutting costs for all parents, bringing childminders into the scheme so that parents can benefit from the national childcare scheme, NCS, and extending AIM so that more children with a disability can access more hours in early learning and care. We have to see...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I will adopt Deputy Funchion's mantra of asking early and often in all our engagements with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in the next-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is right about childminders. I am conscious that thousands of parents rely on childminders and were not able to get the benefit of the significant cuts we were able to bring in to the cost of childcare for parents using centre-based childcare . I am also conscious that some childminders are concerned about the process because it will involve a degree of regulation. That has to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: As Deputy Connolly knows, in February 2021, the Department published the White Paper to end direct provision and it contained three core themes: accommodation, integration and supports. Since the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions, more than 15,000 people have come to Ireland seeking international protection, and at the same time more than 84,000 people have fled from Ukraine, the vast...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Deputy Connolly is right. The vulnerability assessments are an EU obligation. They were not being carried out for many years, and that is why I identified them as a priority. They are being carried out now. They are revealing significant vulnerabilities, and that allows us to better plan the services we provide. In terms of the update on the White Paper, I have reviewed a draft in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (4 Jul 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. Regarding the pillars I announced there, I think the Deputy is going to be particularly interested in pillar 2, which is a capacity grant. This will allow existing services to expand and build brand new services. I hope that later on in the summer, we will be in a position to make the announcement on how people can apply this year to draw down funds for the capacity...