Results 4,001-4,020 of 11,893 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (1 Jun 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 314 and 315 together. The service to which the Deputy refers had previously availed of funding through the Special Category of the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) Programme. Following a review of this programme in 2018, it was determined that a number of services no longer fell under the Specials category as they had either equalled or exceeded their...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (1 Jun 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Immigration Support Services (1 Jun 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Ireland has responded to the largest displacement of people on the European continent since the Second World War. Since February 2022, my Department has worked extensively as part of the cross-governmental response to assist over 83,000 arrivals fleeing the war in Ukraine, of which 61,000 have sought accommodation from this Department. Overseeing provision of accommodation on this scale...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Communications (1 Jun 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: On 8 March 2023 the Government announced the intention to hold a referendum on gender equality as recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly and the Special Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality. It is envisaged that the referendum will take place in November of this year. My Department has convened an Interdepartmental Committee, involving all Government Departments, to develop...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Bodies (1 Jun 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The state bodies under the aegis of this Department are - Tusla - Oberstown Childrens' Detention Campus - The Adoption Authority of Ireland - The National Disability Authority - The Irish Human Rights and Equality Authority - The Ombudsman for Children's Office Reflecting their independent status, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Ombudsman for Children's...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Food Prices (1 Jun 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Matters related to social welfare payments are a matter for the Department of Social Protection. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department of Social Protection may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator for putting forward the amendment. I want to take a step back. The amendment proposes the deletion an existing part of section 50 and its replacement with new text proposed by Sinn Féin Senators. When the Bill was first brought before the Dáil, it referred solely to the institutions listed in the Schedule and they were the only available institutions....

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Again, respectfully, this is a policy decision. The role of the chief deciding officer is to oversee the implementation of the scheme and oversee, in an independent way, the adjudication of each individual application and make sure that is done in an appropriate way. A decision on the addition of a new institution could have the consequence of significantly broadening the scheme. If the...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: We have included this section to recognise that there may be circumstances where our understanding of other institutions changes as we find out more about them. They may have replicated the functions of the institutions that are contained within this legislation and if so, the legislation makes space for them to be included, if they meet the requirements set out here.

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I wish to signal to Seanad Éireann that I may bring amendments to the Bill on Report Stage to address an issue relating to institutions covered in the scheme and their continued operation in other capacities. This issue is complex in nature and particularly relates to county home institutions. It is currently being considered by my officials in consultation with the Attorney General's...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator. He is right that the Report Stage debate is scheduled for four hours at the moment. As the Senator knows, Committee Stage was originally scheduled for three hours and we have been dealing with it for a lot longer. That is absolutely fine because it is important legislation. It is important that we give the amendments that were in order and, in certain circumstances,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Statutory and operational responsibility for the delivery of child protection and welfare services is a matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The Deputy is seeking information in relation to an operational matter for Tusla. Consequently, I have referred the matter to Tusla, and requested that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Social Welfare Payments (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Matters related to social welfare payments are a matter for the Department of Social Protection. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department of Social Protection may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department has, since 2016, funded the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme and reap the benefits of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: In line with emerging best practice to support the integration and independence of children with a disability, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) does not fund Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). Rather, Level 7 of AIM provides financial support to the pre-school provider, which is used either to reduce the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room or to buy in additional assistance to the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: School age childcare (SAC) services are required to operate within regulatory minimum adult-to-child ratios as set out in the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018. The ratio is the minimum number of adults required to supervise, care for and work directly with the children in the service. The introduction of SAC Regulations in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority and my Department relies on a number of data sources to monitor supply and demand. The annual data captured by Pobal on behalf of my Department - through the Early Years Sector Profile Survey - is one important data source that allows us to monitor supply and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a free universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. It provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year and the programme year runs...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare is a key Government priority. The Department monitors early learning and childcare capacity on an ongoing basis, with a particular focus on responding to the unmet early learning and childcare needs of families. The annual data captured by Pobal on behalf of my Department - through the Early Years Sector Profile Survey - is one...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 May 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 152 together. In instances where a service has concerns about their sustainability, the first step in obtaining support is for the service to reach out to their local City and County Childcare Committee (CCC). Once a services engages with their local CCC they will be able to avail of supports through the case management process. My Department...