Results 481-500 of 19,404 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) was introduced in July 2022 to recognise the generosity of people who have opened their homes to provide accommodation to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) arriving in Ireland from Ukraine. The ARP is paid at the rate of €800 per month per property with a unique Eircode (vacant or shared). The scheme is provided for under Part 2...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Schemes (20 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: International Protection (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Thank you for your question, Deputy. The Request for Tender (RFT) process referred to by the Deputy, was first undertaken in January 2022, and was to be a key step in the Government’s strategy at that time, to end the reliance on emergency accommodation for international protection applicants. This process did not provide sufficient capacity to meet demand for accommodation...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. An annual sector profile demonstrates an 8% increase in enrolments between 2021/22 and 2022/23. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 2 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) is guided by the Interim Guidelines for Use of AI in the Public Service published by the Public Service Transformation Delivery Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and by the National Cyber Security Centre on ICT policy and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Core Funding represents a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme (September 2022-August 2023) rising to €287 million in year 2 (September 2023-August 2024) and €331 million in year 3 (September 2024-August 2025). Data on Core Funding uptake and the Fee Increase Assessment process...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: An Action Plan for Administrative and Regulatory Simplification is being developed, informed by an independent review of end-to-end processes linked to publicly funded ELC/SAC programmes/schemes. There is also a Programme for Government commitment to reduce the administrative burden on providers. This initiative is being supported by a Working Group comprising representatives from the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (20 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: The Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides a statutory basis for the National Childcare Scheme, specifies that only Tusla-registered providers are eligible to participate in the Scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered childcare providers helps to ensure that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision. The National...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: State Bodies (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 to 183, inclusive, together. My Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Direct Provision System (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: I would like to thank the Deputy for their question. The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is committed to providing the best possible service to those seeking International Protection. I am informed that the IPAS Customer Service team held a clinic onsite at the location provided by the Deputy recently, and I am informed that the issues noted in the detail provided by...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (19 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Expenditure (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: This information is not immediately available. My Department is preparing a response and will contact the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: My Department provides a wide range of funding schemes to support the delivery of early learning and childcare and school age care services. Core Funding is a grant to providers designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management, with associated conditions in relation to fee control and cost transparency, incorporating funding for administration and to support the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Health Strategies (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth commissioned a qualitative research study to examine the workplace experiences of parents coping with pregnancy loss. The study focuses on people who experience pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks’ gestation, as people who have a pregnancy loss after 24 weeks’ gestation can avail of full maternity leave and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (19 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set wage rates or working conditions. The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set wage rates or working conditions. The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Levels of staff turnover within early learning and care services are linked to pay and conditions. While Government is the primary funder of the sector as a whole, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor my Department, set wage rates or working conditions. The Joint Labour Committee process is the formal mechanism by which employer and employee representatives can...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: Staff who work in early learning and care settings fundamentally shape children’s experiences and are the primary drivers of quality. Recruiting and retaining appropriately qualified staff in early learning and care is also a key determinant of supply; qualifications of staff and the ratio of staff to children are stipulated by regulatory requirements and therefore the recruitment and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Flexible Work Practices (19 Feb 2025)

Norma Foley: There are currently no planned changes to the blended working arrangements in place in my Department. A review of the Blended Working Policy currently in place is scheduled for Q2 2025.