Results 381-400 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: My Department must adhere to the Rules concerning Exchequer funding. With this in mind, officials from my Department have reviewed the payment arrangements to services providing my Department’s early learning and care and school age childcare programmes. Pobal administers the various schemes and issues payments on behalf of my Department. On the 10thDecember 2019, there was...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Expenditure (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The information requested by the Deputy is quite specific. I have requested the relevant organisations involved to collate the information and I will revert again to the Deputy in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I have had regular and valuable interactions with providers of early learning and care services in my tenure as Minister, while visiting services, attending conferences, in my role as a constituency TD and through formal structures I have established for this purpose.  I established the Early Years Forum in 2016, to enable stakeholders to meet and exchange views...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Chairman for his invitation to attend today's meeting. Like the Chairman, I have been intensely engaged with the issue that is presented before us today as to the challenges facing our childcare sector. I have the utmost respect for those who work day in and day out to look after our children. I know that for many this is indeed a vocation. They are significant people in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Of course.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Regarding my time, it was to have been approximately an hour had we started a little earlier. I have a Topical Issue debate to take.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I was originally told that this meeting was to take place at approximately 4.30 p.m. We will see what happens. That is the timing issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I will make three comments in respect of what the Chairman asked. Regarding the one-off programme support payment, it is an average. That is an important point, as there is a range.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Chairman asked an excellent question about what efforts were being made to attract other providers. I would answer that in two ways. My Department has been in regular contact with the broker that was handling the negotiations and we understand some of the issues with which he has been working. Even as the days pass, other information arises and we are in direct contact with one or two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: That gives us a little-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: That is good.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Deputy for his questions. I am pleased to attend the committee at short notice. It is not that doing so was not a challenge, but this is the appropriate place to interrogate the issues. I thank the Deputy for acknowledging our efforts. They will not solve everything, but I hope that they can be solutions in the short term and identify a path towards a mid-term solution. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: To be clear, the payment comes through a process of calculation and then it goes directly to the provider.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: There is an additional support there, to be exactly clear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: That is correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Yes. I understand that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: They are excellent questions. I am asking these questions myself and we are working through them. It is important to give a little more fact and detail to help answer them. Some 3,000 of the 4,600 providers are being covered by the existing insurer and 2,600 of these are part of the insurance scheme organised by Early Childhood Ireland, ECI. We understand that the great majority of these...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Insurance Cover for Crèches: Discussion (18 Dec 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Yes, 30%. I understand that the other providers that were insured through Ironshore Europe will face increased in the region of 100%. We have all received representations that some people are getting quoted more than that. In general, the latter is the information we have been given. That is extremely unfortunate. The information we have is that the issue arises because the policies they...