Results 441-460 of 19,404 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) was introduced to recognise the generosity of people who have opened their homes to provide accommodation to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) who arrived in Ireland after fleeing the war in Ukraine. The ARP scheme is provided in Part 2 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 and is administered by the Department of Social...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Policies (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: The Programme for Government, ‘Securing Ireland’s Future’, contains a commitment to advance legislation to ban conversion practices. Given the complex and sensitive nature of the proposed legislation, my Department is carefully considering the key policy principles that will underpin the legislation to ensure that individuals are protected from harmful conversion...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Disability Services (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Disability Services (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: As of December 2024, approximately 90 service providers delivered residential services to 8,660 individuals throughout the country. A number of new emergency residential places have been added to the residential base, which results in a capacity increase. However, it should also be noted that Residential Capacity will also reduce during the year as a result of the loss of places in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Thank you for your question, Deputy. A response will be provided directly to you in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Thank you, Deputy, for your question. Our Department has a very urgent need for accommodation for people who are in the international protection application process and are entitled to reception conditions under EU regulations. Our system has been forced to expand dramatically in the last two years, from accommodating 7,000 people at the end of 2021, to now accommodating over 33,000 people....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Family Resource Centres (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: During 2024 my Department received correspondences supporting the establishment by a local organisation of a Family Resource Centre in Carrickmacross. I am aware that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has also engaged with this organisation. The Deputy may be aware that an additional €800,000 was secured in Budget 2025 for the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme. This additional...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Family Resource Centres (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I can inform the Deputy that a funding equalisation scheme was initiated in 2024 for the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme. The scheme ensures that all FRC Programme members receive minimum core funding of at least €160,000 from 2025 onwards. Core funding supports the pivotal role FRCs play in so many communities across the country, where they provide a comprehensive range of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Over the last eleven months this Department has been focused on progressing the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy (CAS), which was announced in March 2024. The goal is to develop a sustainable international protection accommodation system and enable the State to meet its legal and humanitarian commitments. Accommodation is being sourced and developed through a range of teams, through a...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Toward the end of 2021, Ireland was accommodating about 7,000 people in the international protection system, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine had not yet occurred. Our accommodation systems have been forced to expand at a rapid pace over the last two years in response to a sharp increase in need, among both people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and greater numbers of people applying for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I am committed to supporting the delivery and development of youth work services and opportunities for young people across the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) including Laois Offaly ETB. For 2024 €133,250 was allocated to Laois Offaly ETB under the ETB Youth Service Grant, to support the ETB in carrying out their functions relating to the administration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Consultations (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I am advised that my Department has engaged in a number of external legal consultations since the beginning of 2023, the details of which are provided in the following table. Consultant/Company Year General nature Report/Recommendations Cost Dr Roisin Costello BL 2023 Referendums on Gender Equality ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: An Expert Group was established by my Department in 2019 and was in place for over 2 years until 2021. The report from the Expert Group ‘Partnership for the Public Good’ was published in December 2021. This report was informed by research conducted by Frontier Economics and used research previously conducted by Crowe regarding the costs related to providing Early Learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Parental Leave (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 757 and 808 together. Under the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019, an employee who is a relevant parent in respect of a child under the age 12 is entitled to 26 weeks’ unpaid parental leave for each child. Where a child has a disability or long-term illness, the entitlement can continue until the child is 16. A relevant parent is a parent, an...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Public Procurement Contracts (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 759 and 760 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth responses are listed in the table below. Bodies under the aegis of the department will respond directly to the Deputy. Contractor Description of Contract Contract Award Value Final Contract Cost ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Each year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile. The most recent published capacity data for the 2022/23 programme year estimated that there were 4,293 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services in County Kilkenny. This data also indicated that 57% of service providers in County Kilkenny had at...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: On 30 September 2024, relevant sections of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 were commenced to provide for removal of the exemption from registration for childminders, and the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Childminding Regulations) 2024 came into effect on the same day. These changes allowed for the registration of childminders with Tusla. This was a milestone in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: While I try to be helpful at all times in the parliamentary process, the Deputy will be aware that I cannot be involved in individual cases and cannot comment on same. The legislation underpinning the Payment Scheme - the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 - specifically provides for the explicit independence of the Chief Deciding Officer in administering the application...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for this question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (25 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Annual funding provided for youth organisations and services is provided under the sectoral programme for children and young people B06-Youth Organisations and Services (part funded by the national lottery). In addition to the above funding stream which provides the mainstream funding for youth services and youth organisations, other funding streams also contribute to the overall funding...