Results 4,821-4,840 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Sector (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department is very much aware of the current issues affecting the childcare sector and, in conjunction with Pobal and Childcare Committees Ireland, keeps these matters under constant review. The issue of sustainability in childcare services is multifaceted and encompasses broad challenges – the rate of subvention funding received for the Department’s childcare schemes is at...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Data (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Wages in the early years sector are unacceptably low and working conditions are poor. This affects the quality of service offered to children. Addressing these issues is a priority for me as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. As my Department is not the employer, however, I have no direct control over wages or working conditions. Similarly, as my Department is not the employer, there is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 661 to 664, inclusive, together. I like to thank Deputy Rabbitte for her questions. PQ Numbers: 24219/17, 24220/17, 24221/17 and 22422/17 are of a similar nature and so, for the Deputy’s ease of reference, I will answer them together. As I have previously announced, the Affordable Childcare Scheme (ACS) will not be introduced in September 2017,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla has advised me that all residential care services are operated to the same standard. Recent changes in the payment of overnight staff has had no impact on the continued equal treatment of private and State residential care services for foster children.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Work Supports (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The National Youth Strategy 2015-2020 was published in October 2015 and was developed in close consultation with statutory youth interests and the voluntary youth organisations and services that work with young people. The strategy sets out Government’s aims for young people, aged 10 to 24 years, so that they are active and healthy, achieving their full potential in learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The information requested relates to funding schemes that annually support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects throughout the country. I am pleased to confirm that I have allocated an extra €5.5m in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2017. This will bring the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children First Guidelines (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Since the Children First Act 2015 was signed into law on 19 November 2015, a number of provisions of the Act have already been commenced as follows: Sections 1 to 5 (Part I) and section 28 (Part V) of the Act were commenced on 11 December 2015 and Section 18 (Part III) and Sections 20-26 (Part IV) were commenced on 1 May 2016. My intention is that the remaining provisions of the Act,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Strategy Implementation (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: In 2017, I made €4m in funding available under the Early Years Capital Programme and a separate €3 million in capital funding for services providing school age childcare. The application process for both funds has now closed. Pobal is responsible for administering capital programmes on behalf of my Department. In addition, to providing the online application system, Pobal...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Poverty (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I want to ensure a balanced approach to eligibility for childcare subsidies under the Affordable Childcare Scheme. While people will qualify for a subsidy based purely on income, parents’ participation in work or training will determine the number of hours of subsidy available. When parents are engaged in work (including part-time work and labour market activation programmes) or in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: It is not clear from the Deputy’s question the exact legislation being referred to. My Department is arranging to follow up on this matter with the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department is committed to supporting and promoting the development, welfare and protection of children, and the effective functioning of families. It is recognised that the dynamics of domestic violence and the safety needs of both children and non-abusing parents must be considered in making appropriate arrangements for children's contact with abusive parents in the case of family...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla has advised that the Family Resource Centre (FRC) referred to by the Deputy is now established. A Board of Management is in place and the Centre is in receipt of a budget of €115,000 from Tusla under the Family Resource Centre Programme. The centre in question is the new hub for family support in the region. To date, the centre has received approximately €85,000 in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Preschool Services (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Officials in my Department have liaised with Tusla, Pobal and the Department of Education and Skills on this matter. The cost of inspections in 2016 are outlined in a table: Organisation/Department 2016 Cost Tusla €3,348,931 Early Years Inspectorate, Department of Education and Skills €1,020,084.82 Pobal €1,383,296

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Gender Recognition (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) conducted consultations with transgender children and young people in November 2016 in cooperation with the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland (TENI), who collaborated with BeLongTo. A research team from Trinity College Dublin was contracted to write a report of the consultations, a draft of which was submitted to the DCYA in March...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Policy Reviews (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: In the development and implementation of its policies, my Department considers a child to be an individual under the age of 18 years. The Deputy may be aware that there are matters currently before the courts regarding the rights of the unborn child. Accordingly, it would be not be appropriate for me to comment on this matter at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Data (23 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Data on the number of children attending centre-based early years services is gathered by Pobal annually through the Early Years Sector Profile. The most recent available data are from April 2016. At that time, it was estimated that approximately 38,000 children under-3 were attending centre-based early years services. The figures for 2017 will become available in the coming months, when...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Schemes (18 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: In 1994 the Department of Social Welfare opened a grant scheme to provide counselling supports to children who had experienced bereavement or loss. This grant scheme then passed to the Family Support Agency (FSA) when it was established in 2003 and subsequently to Tusla on establishment in January 2014. Up until 2011 applications were invited through an annual public advertisement,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Data (18 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Entry to the ECCE programme is based on a programme year that runs between September and August, so for the purpose of this PQ we propose to answer your query based on 2016 - 2017 and then 2017- 2018 programme years. To date, approximately 14,000 children have registered for both 2015 - 2016 and 2016 - 2017 cycles and based on current registrations we would estimate that a similar number of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: AIM is a model of supports designed 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 fully participate in the ECCE programme and reap the benefits of quality early years care and education. AIM is a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Area Based Childhood Programme (18 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The ABC Programme is a joint prevention and early intervention initiative, led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in conjunction with The Atlantic Philanthropies (Atlantic). The ABC Programme commenced in 2013 and was designed as a time-bound, co-funding agreement in the amount of €29.7m to 2017. In late 2016, my Department secured additional funding to ensure...