Results 5,021-5,040 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Preschool Services (12 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Officials in my Department contacted Tusla who confirmed that the cost for inspectors employed to inspect early years services was €3,348,931 in the budgetary year 2016. This figure includes pay and non-pay costs. Officials in my Department have asked Tusla to respond further to the question re the cost of inspecting all services in one budgetary year and this information will be...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Preschool Services (12 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Childcare regulations introduced for newly-registering pre-school services on 30 June 2016, and for existing services on 31 December 2016, require all staff working directly with children in to have a at least a major award at level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework in early childhood care and education, or a qualification deemed by the Minister to be equivalent. This...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy may be aware, responsibility for the National Educational Welfare Board which included the School Completion Programme was transferred to my Department on its establishment in 2011. Upon the establishment of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency on January 1 2014, operational responsibility for the School Completion Programme was transferred to the Agency. Funding information in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Preschool Services (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am very much aware of the difficulties being reported regarding the recruitment and retention of early years staff. The matter has been discussed at the Early Years Forum which I chair, and in other fora with my Department. We are working with the Department of Education and Skills to develop a new Early Years workforce plan. This will examine workforce supply issues. I am also...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 793 to 795, inclusive, together. Foster care is the preferred option for children who have been received into care. This can be as a result of abuse and/or neglect and their parents' inability to care for them due to a combination of difficulties in their own lives. At the end of January 2017, there were 6,323 children in care of whom over 92% (5,844)...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Regulation (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 provide that each employee working directly with children attending a pre-school service must hold at least a major award in early childhood care and education at Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) or a qualification deemed to be equivalent. The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is a programme...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Capitation Grants (11 Apr 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 €20m per annum, with increases of €3m annually for every...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Preschool Services (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Deputy has asked specifically about the estimated cost of employing Special Needs Assistants. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not fund Special Needs Assistants. The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is a programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, was...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 799 and 800 together. Budget 2017 provided an additional €19m to enable the introduction of a new single Affordable Childcare Scheme. This is in addition to the existing funding which supports the current targeted schemes and which equates to €87m annually. The full year costs of the scheme will be approximately €150m. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Aftercare Services Provision (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department is working closely with Tusla to ensure that the provisions of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 can be fully implemented as quickly as possible. The amendment to the Act is primarily concerned with aftercare – the planning and support put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving statutory care at 18 years of age, to assist him or her in making the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Traveller Community (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (2014-2020) was launched by Government in April 2014. This is a whole of Government framework, implementation of which is overseen by my Department. Individual commitments remain the responsibility of relevant Departments or Agencies. While Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures is a universal...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I have placed a high priority on addressing the number of children who are without an allocated social worker. I secured additional funding for this purpose in 2017, and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is now in the second year of a 3-year plan to ensure the allocation of a social worker to all children and young people who need one. The Deputy should note that all urgent and emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: As these are operational matters, I have asked Tusla – The Child and Family Agency to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I have been informed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that at this time all Tusla Children’s Residential Centres in the West are under review to determine how the needs of the young people in the region may be best met. I am advised that consideration is being given to the demands on each service and ensuring that each Centre’s purpose and function fits with the overall...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla has advised that 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Funding (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 807 to 809, inclusive, together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The information sought by the Deputy has been requested from the Child and Family Agency and I will respond directly to the Deputy when the information is received.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Employment Initiative (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Last year, I announced details of the €600,000 Youth Employability Initiative which is funded under the Dormant Accounts scheme. Under the Initiative 28 youth projects have received grants to support innovative programmes that target disadvantaged young people who are most at risk of unemployment and who are not in education, employment or training. The programmes aimed to build...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services by the voluntary youth sector, to young people throughout the country. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people. The voluntary youth sector involves approximately 1,400 paid staff, including youth workers and 40,000 volunteers...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Expenditure Reviews (11 Apr 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has initiated a spending review of expenditure by Government Departments. The focus of the review is the development of an evidence base to inform the prioritisation of current and capital expenditure and it is being undertaken on a targeted basis operating in parallel to the estimates process for 2018. Officials of my Department have been...