Results 4,981-5,000 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am advised by Tusla – The Child and Family Agency that they received over 13,600 records from St Patrick's guild in May 2016. Tusla initially began addressing the waiting list of clients it received from the guild and in September 2016 began to address new referrals related to the guild records. Tusla offers a full information and tracing service and those who wish to avail of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy's question refers to contractual issues, I am unable to comment. I have referred the question for direct response by Tusla to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, may receive a child into care on a voluntary basis or following an application to the courts. There are a range of orders provided for under the Child Care Act 1991, as amended. I can confirm that Tusla does not hold data on the reasons for the divergences in the granting of care orders by different courts. Decisions on the variation or discharge of a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla’s aftercare service provides young people leaving care with the planning and support they need in making the transition to independent living. The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 was signed into law in December 2015. It entitles eligible young people to a formal aftercare plan, prepared by Tusla in collaboration with the young person leaving care. In response to this...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My officials have requested the information from Tusla and I will forward the reply to the Deputy once I have been furnished with it.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Inter-Country Adoptions (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Adoption Authority of Ireland has responsibility for implementing the Adoption Act 2010, including Ireland's responsibilities under the Hague Convention in relation to inter-country adoption. Haiti ratified the Hague Convention on 1 April 2014. In May 2014 the Adoption Authority of Ireland accredited Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency to facilitate inter country adoption between...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The detailed information requested relating to County Donegal is not readily available in my Department. My officials have requested the information from Tusla and I will forward the reply to the Deputy once I have been furnished with it.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Expenditure (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I can confirm to the Deputy that there are no contracted services providing sleepovers on assignment or other similar specialist services directly to my Department. In relation to the minimum wage, the Deputy will be aware that the increase to €9.25 per hour came into effect on the 1st January 2017 and that it is a matter for individual service providers to ensure that their...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The policy paper for the introduction of the affordable child care scheme was approved by Government in October 2016. Since then, officials of my Department and Pobal have been working intensively to plan for the implementation of this scheme. This is an extremely complex and ambitious project because of all that is involved – legislation, new business processes, data protection and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Data (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The planned work processes for the administration of the affordable child care scheme (ACS) will be considered from a data protection perspective, with the imminent EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in mind. The services of data protection specialists have been secured to undertake an initial privacy impact assessment (PIA) on the planned work processes for the new scheme. This...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides a range of out of hours services to all areas of the country, aimed at addressing emergency situations in the area of child welfare and protection. Out of hours services are currently organised in three structures to deliver services to three areas: the greater Dublin area, Cork city and all other areas. In 2017, Tusla plans to coordinate the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Garda Vetting Applications Data (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Department of Children and Youth Affairs allocated extra funding of €9,650 to Barnardos to assist in clearing the Garda vetting backlog that had arisen owing to the introduction of e-vetting in April 2016. This extra funding enabled Barnardos to hire 1 extra full time staff member for 3 months from 7 December 2016 to 2 March 2017. At the conclusion of this period the backlog of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Capitation Grants (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The actual cost of this proposal would be subject to a number of factors including actual levels of participation, and the number of children subvented at the 'higher capitation' rate - costs increase as the number of higher qualified staff increase. My Department estimates the cost of such a measure to be in the region of €36m per annum.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The latest figures from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, indicates that, at the end of February 2016, there were 6,309 children in care. Of these, 355 (6%) were in a residential placement. I have asked Tusla to provide the information requested by the Deputy in respect of the cost and number of social care workers who are providing care in the residential settings, and I will revert when...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (2 May 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The detailed information requested relating to costs by region and residential care is not readily available in my Department. My officials have requested the information from Tusla and I will forward the reply to the Deputy once I have been furnished with it.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (13 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 373 and 375 together. The overall resource allocation to my Department under the Capital Investment Plan 2016 – 2021 amounts €136 million. Details of the indicative allocations for each of the capital programmes and the level of expenditure for the period ending March 2017 are set out in the table. Programme Allocation Spend to end March 2017...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (13 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The resource allocation to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency to support capital developments since establishment on the 1stJanuary, 2014 amounts to €48.847 million. Details for funding provision for the years 2014 to 2017 are set out in the table below: - 2014 2015 2016 2017 Capital Allocation €6.841 million €12.386 million €16.060 million €13.560...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Ministerial Travel (13 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: St. Patrick’s Day offers a unique opportunity to promote Ireland’s economic and political interests overseas, with levels of publicity and media attention unmatched by the national day of any other country. I travelled to Boston, USA as part of the 2017 Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations. I attended a range of events during five days, including meetings, cultural...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Qualifications (13 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 provide that each employee working directly with children attending the service must hold at least a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education at Level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework or a qualification deemed by the Minister to be equivalent. The Regulations clearly state that the service provider must ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (13 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: On 20th March 2017 I announced the Early Years Capital programme for 2017 in three strands, as follows: - Strand 1: Additional Places (€3 million total available – maximum €50,000 per grant); - Strand 2: Building improvements and maintenance/refurbishment (€500,000 total available, maximum €20,000 per grant, Community childcare services only); - Strand 3:...