Results 5,101-5,120 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Deputy. Yes I will; it is something to which I am deeply committed. As an educator myself, I have even taught students about the issue, as well as working with many teachers and schools. I take the point that it is, perhaps, an anomaly that the programme is located within the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. My understanding is that the thinking at the time was that...

Other Questions: School Completion Programme (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I will. I have actually been raising some of these issues with Tusla and, of course, they have been raised to me too in the context of schools within my constituency of Dublin South-West. That is why I requested a meeting with the director of educational welfare services, during which we discussed a number of these issues. In the context of the reform programme that I am identifying, the...

Other Questions: Emergency Accommodation Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I appreciate the additional points and questions raised by Deputy O'Sullivan. They are good questions and I will certainly commit to getting the information identified by the Deputy. I am very clear that the Deputy's question relates to gaps, even though there is a special project or service there, and I hear what the Deputy is saying. The gaps may be around there not being enough people...

Other Questions: Emergency Accommodation Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I certainly can promise the Deputy that, to see how we can find the information. If the Deputy has any suggestions or recommendations, maybe we can have a conversation or a meeting with my officials later in that regard. I take the point that these young people are not necessarily just from the place the Deputy represents and where she resides. I hear what the Deputy says around the...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am very pleased with the progress made to date in implementing the access and inclusion model, AIM. To date, 1,820 children with a disability have benefited from the supports it provides and this number will grow over time. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support to enable the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities in...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Funchion. I will bring these concerns back to my officials, particularly on the application for and acceptance onto the LINC programme. The Deputy wonders if the lottery system is the fairest system there could be. It is my understanding that this was well thought out and identified. That is a form and an approach to fairness as distinct from what the Deputy has suggested,...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I agree with that. It would also be my concern. As part of this debate and if we look at it in the context of the committee, we need to look at access to training and requirements in that regard and whether they have changed enough so that people can have that access because, of course, it would not be something I would wish for, as the Deputy appreciates. At the same time, we have already...

Other Questions: Youth Services (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Meeting children, young people and those who campaign for their rights is the best part of my job. I engage with them every week. Last Saturday, I was delighted to join the FAI, the Shamrock Rovers Academy and their young players at the Roadstone Group Sports Club in Kingswood to open a world-class pitch. It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the result of a great partnership...

Other Questions: Youth Services (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Deputy for his additional question. I have met a number of national organisations, as the Deputy is aware, on my travels. When I meet the adults, I always ask if the young people can come to the meetings as well so that I am not just meeting the people who are advocating for them, particularly in the context of Foróige, the National Youth Council of Ireland, Young Voices...

Other Questions: Youth Services (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Without a doubt, I do. A gathering a few months ago at which some Deputies were present involved young people in the context of youth organisations and Comhairle na nÓg and discussed what they want in respect of Brexit. As we know, this is Brexit week. What is the value of such a gathering? When they came together, we heard that they were worried about narrow college choices,...

Other Questions: Emergency Accommodation Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla funds two emergency children's residential centres that cater for young people in need of emergency care. One such centre in Dublin city centre closes during the day. The young people are not put on the street or left to their own devices. Tusla funds a dedicated service to cater for the young people during the day and afternoons at weekends. Some of the young people attend school...

Other Questions: DEIS Scheme (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am indicating in my answer that, as we move forward, it is not necessarily the case that DEIS and school completion will be coupled. I am saying we need to look at that again, in light of the DEIS review, its focus and its reform. I am not saying that we will necessarily decouple but the case the Deputy has put to me, and the Minister for Education and Skills also, needs to be listened to...

Other Questions: DEIS Scheme (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: To be perfectly clear, there were no funding cuts regarding the school completion programme 2014-2015 allocation of €24.7 million. Tusla has confirmed that the funding this year is €24.756 million and that there has been no cut in funding for the year 2016-17. I am not sure where the Deputy is getting that information from and I am not clear on her concerns about the scaling...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The affordable childcare scheme will give priority to the poorest families. The highest rates of subsidy will go to families with the lowest incomes. In particular, the maximum rate of subsidy will go to families with net income below €22,700, which means that all families below the relative income poverty line will receive the maximum hourly rate of subsidy. For school-age...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank both Deputies who are highlighting a number of interrelated issues. On the initial question, I referred in my answer to people who are working, in part-time work or in training versus being unemployed, and we might continue this discussion. It is about labour market activation but also encouraging people to move into forms of training and if parents are able to do that, those...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I know exactly what I said in the Dáil. It is a great disappointment to me that I will not be able to deliver on that by the end of this month. The extension is due to the time required to respond to some of the report's recommendations in a different way than perhaps has been done in the past. This has proven extremely challenging. I am very happy to say that there is significant...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am being transparent in terms of the process. I appreciate that people would like to see it as soon as possible. I understand that as well as anyone in this Chamber because of the work that I have been doing on that report in regard to a number of survivors and advocates. It has probably taken more of my time in the past couple of months than anything else in the Department. In my...

Other Questions: DEIS Scheme (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: First, I want to welcome the publication of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools plan 2017. The DEIS plan aims to achieve a more robust assessment framework for identifying schools and allocating resources. It also seeks to support best practice in schools through inter-agency collaboration. The educational welfare service of Tusla will be very important in this regard. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Administration (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I will bring that question back to my officials as part of our lengthy discussions about the various issues. I appreciate what the Deputy is saying. The focus is not only on the interim measures being clearly communicated so that everybody knows what to do and where but that they will allow the money be delivered to providers and it is there for parents in September 2017. In addition, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Staff (28 Mar 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I accept that wages in the early years sector are unacceptably low and that working conditions are poor. This affects the quality of service offered to children. Addressing these issues is a priority concern 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. Fundamentally, the...