Results 4,441-4,460 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department has engaged over 750 properties to provide accommodation for Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection. In line with the Department’s commitment to substantially clear the backlog at the end of 2022, I temporarily re-assigned staff from other parts of the Department in December, doubling the size of the payments unit. The enlarged team approved more than 100 million...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Measures (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 532 and 533 together. Officials from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth have been in contact with the Department of Justice regarding section 19 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act. The issue is being considered as part of the ongoing review of the Equality Acts. Officials have been working on the report of the submissions to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Thank you for your correspondence. Further to your query regarding the contracted capacity of each individual centre, this information has been collated and will be forwarded to you through email.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department successfully secured €70 million under the revised National Development Plan (NDP) allocation for the Building Blocks Capital Programme, designed to meet current and long-term Early Learning and Childcare infrastructure needs. The Building Blocks Capital Programme includes three Pillars: - An Improvement Grant to improve energy efficiency standards, while also supporting...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: As at 19 March 2023, there are 20,190 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole, compared with 10,000 at this time last year. The response to the ongoing migration crisis has entered an extremely difficult phase; with no apparent accommodation for International protection applicants (IPAs) at scale available into the short term to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme will provide financial payments and a form of enhanced medical card to people who spent time as mothers or children in Mother and Baby or County Home Institutions. The institutions covered by the Scheme are those identified by the Commission of Investigation as having had a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Bus Éireann (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: This is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Transport.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme is designed to be flexible and acknowledge that childcare needs differ widely across different families. NCS subsidies are awarded as an hourly rate, along with a maximum number of weekly hours that the subsidy will be paid for. This means that if an applicant receives an award for 20 hours, the subsidy could be used for four half-day sessions (8am – 1pm)....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am very conscious of the hurt that continues to be felt by survivors and family members of the people who died while resident in Mother and Baby institutions. One of the most tragic aspects of what happened in the former institution in Bessborough is the uncertainty regarding the burial place of many children who were resident there. The investigation of burial arrangements in Mother...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department provides some €73 million in current funding to support a range of youth services and opportunities which are delivered by youth organisations. This includes €46.3m for UBU Your Place Your Space which is a single youth funding scheme that targets disadvantaged young people with evidence informed interventions and services that will secure good outcomes. This...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I do not have qualitative data from Tusla on that. I have no doubt that in some circumstances the lack of mental health supports is probably a driver for creating a system where a family breakdown could perhaps have been prevented and is not prevented because of a lack of supports, leading to a child going into foster care or the wider alternative care system. I do not have qualitative data...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: There is an interim CEO of Tusla, Kate Duggan.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: There will be a process to appoint the new CEO soon but Kate is in the interim role. Everyone would recognise that in the three and a half years that Bernard Gloster was in the role he was extremely innovative and took on a lot of the challenges that were in Tusla.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I understand that. Moving away from reliance on private fostering would have been something Bernard Gloster felt strongly about and I think it is something Kate Duggan would feel strongly about as well. It is something the Department feels strongly about. There are real challenges there but we are doing the work in terms of the recognition of non-private foster parents and also those...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am saying that my understanding from engaging with fostering organisations is that foster carers often feel that those engaged with private fostering are better resourced. I am not making a value judgment on that view but that is what people feel and what often leads people to go into the private system.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: On a weekly basis, there are children in this situation. These are children whose needs are very complex. Unfortunately, they can be very young children who may have substance abuse issues and issues of violence and the like, where they need a multiperson 24-hour team and the only place to provide this is either in hotel or rented accommodation. These situations are unfortunately becoming...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: We could have approximately 50 of these placements per year.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Fifty in play at any one time and yes they would be overnight stays and often over a number of nights.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Foster Care Issues: Discussion (28 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will respond to the Chair's last point first. As she knows, Tusla are bringing forward three strategies in alternative care. The first is for residential care, the second for foster care, and the third one is for aftercare. That last one should be coming out in the next number of months. It might be useful for us, and maybe even someone from Tusla could come for a session with the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Disability Services (23 Mar 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.