Results 4,021-4,040 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Work Projects Funding (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Laois Youth Services received €86,803 in funding in 2017 under the Special Projects for Youth scheme. Under this Scheme, grant-aid is made available in respect of out-of-school projects for disadvantaged young people. Priority is given to projects in the spheres of special youth work initiatives, young homeless people, young people at risk of substance abuse and young travellers. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am delighted to state that as of November 22th, 3,274 services have signed up for the more affordable childcare measures I introduced in September 2017. This represents approximately 88% of Early Years services which provide non ECCE services. This number continues to rise and applications from providers wishing to provide these subsidies will continue to be accepted for the duration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mental Health Services (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My officials, in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Health, are currently identifying a date in December for the inaugural meeting of this group. It is envisaged that this group will comprise of representatives from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Department of Health, Health Service Executive and Tusla. The key objective of the working group is to examine...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am placing a strong emphasis on family support services next year, and the development of capacity within the Family Resource Centre Programme. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency currently allocates funding to 109 Family Resource Centres. This funding provides a contribution towards the running costs of centres. In 2018, I am providing Tusla with additional funding of almost €3.0m...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The total budget allocated to the School Completion Programme (SCP) in 2017 is €24.72m and my Department is currently working with the Educational Welfare Service of Tusla in relation to 2018 allocations. Under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Plan 2017 a number of new schools are now included and will be joining the SCP from September 2018. In this regard it is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Cyber Security Policy (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Protecting children from online abuse, bullying and grooming requires a whole of government approach. The devastating effects are becoming increasingly obvious in our homes, schools and communities. While my department does not have a lead responsibility in this area, it does play an important role in a wider range of actions across a number of departments. Last week, I met with the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Detention Centres (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The safety and well-being of young people and staff in Oberstown is my primary concern. In addressing the challenges posed by the issues on the Oberstown Children Detention Campus (Oberstown), the Board of Management commissioned independent reviews in a number of key areas including operations, security, health and safety and behaviour management. In addition, all policies are being...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Schools participating in the School Completion Programme have not been asked to cut the numbers of students they are working with down to 10% of current numbers. Schools have however been asked to ensure that the School Completion Programme funding is focused on achieving its primary purpose, that is, to target those children most at risk of early school leaving. Ireland's school...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Reports (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department is very actively involved in the North East Inner City Initiative which is progressing apace on foot of the Mulvey Report. Officials from my Department are represented on the Senior Officials Oversight Group and the Programme Implementation Board. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is also Chairing the Integrating Social Services subgroup under this initiative. My...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Detention Centres (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: In March 2017 the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) undertook an inspection at Oberstown Children Detention Campus. A number of areas which require improvement were identified. An Action Plan to address these areas was agreed between HIQA and Oberstown and published on the HIQA website. I understand that work in this regard is progressing in line with the timetable agreed in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Cyberbullying Issues (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I refer the Deputy to the reply that I provided to the same question that she asked as a Priority Question today.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the stand alone report commissioned by the Garda Síochána which was published as "Audit of the exercise by An Garda Síochána of the provisions of Section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991". I am happy to report that progress is being made across all 15 actions of the plan I put in place to address the issues raised in the report...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Staff (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department made €1m of ‘CE Sustainability Funding’ available in 2017 to support services that had been impacted by staff qualification requirements in the 2016 Regulations. This funding was designed to ensure that these regulatory changes did not hinder service delivery or the availability of childcare places. Services were required to satisfy certain criteria to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Supports (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: In serving the best interest of the child, it is vital that the voices of foster carers and children in care are heard. Foster carers can raise any issue or provide feedback directly with their link worker in the first instance, and subsequently with team leader or principal social worker, and they may also make representations to their Foster Care Committee. In addition, foster carers...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I wish to assure the Deputy that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, deals immediately with emergency cases, including for instance, if a child is in immediate physical danger or at immediate risk of sexual abuse. Social work duty teams keep high priority cases under review by regularly checking to ascertain risk to the child, and where necessary will reprioritise the case. Tusla holds...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has conducted an analysis of ECCE capacity and is satisfied that there will be no shortfall in ECCE places for the 2017/2018 programme year. It should be noted that the peak number of children attending ECCE in 2016/2017 was just over 120,000. The 2017/2018 numbers are expected (and on track) to be in line with 2016/2017 uptake. Further, from September 2018, the ECCE...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Records Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Adoption information and tracing services are currently provided on an administrative basis by Tusla, the Adoption Authority of Ireland and by bodies that have been accredited by the Authority under the Adoption Act 2010, depending on who holds the records in question. I am aware that some people are trying to find out if and when they were in a particular mother and baby home irrespective of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence whether in the context of the family or otherwise. At all times, Tusla’s key priority is to ensure that the needs of victims of domestic violence are being met in the best way possible. In 2017, I provided Tusla with funding of over...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Vacancies on State Boards (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am responsible for appointment of members to the boards of the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Gaisce and the Board of Management of the Oberstown Children Detention Campus. There are currently no vacancies on any of the State boards under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Appointments to State Boards Data (28 Nov 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am responsible for the appointment of members to the boards of the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Gaisce (the President's Award) and the Board of Management for Oberstown Children Detention Campus. Since becoming Minister in May 2016, I have made 11 appointments that have not come from the Public Appointments Service lists of suitable candidates. I...