Results 5,461-5,480 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Other Questions: Homelessness Strategy (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: If there is a child protection concern, Tusla will investigate. The immediate safety of the child is the social work department's first consideration. A social work assessment is child centred and considers individual and family needs and takes into account the child's development needs, parenting capacity, family and environmental factors. I will certainly raise the issue of the...

Other Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: The Deputy's question last December referred to unaccompanied minors who are received into State care and remain in care until they are 18, whatever their placement type. Tusla is determined to provide a high level of service for unaccompanied children. In order to best meet their needs, all children on arrival in the State are placed in small residential assessment units so that social...

Other Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I was asked about the waiting lists for unaccompanied minors and whether there were foster families for them. In the case of unaccompanied minors who come through the former Calais route or those coming through other routes, the older they are the better it is for them to have an additional assessment in terms of residential settings. Such a setting may be supported lodgings because they are...

Other Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am working closely with my Government colleagues in regard to unaccompanied minors being received through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. The new International Protection Act 2015 has been commenced and it contains an enhanced provision from the previous legislation. It allows the Tánaiste to recognise the children from Calais as programme refugees. This means that the...

Other Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I will try to answer.

Other Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: There were two or three questions. In regard to family reunification rights for any unaccompanied minor who comes into the country by whatever route they arrive, one of the first things Tusla engages in is finding family members and assisting the child in being reunited with them. Young people who were formerly in the Calais camps will come in under a different legal mechanism. They will...

Other Questions: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I can certainly get the information on how many we have taken in under the terms of the overall programme. The numbers are increasing subsequent to the visit the Tánaiste and I made to Greece to solidify the kinds of practices undertaken between both countries. It is approximately 2,000 now but I will have to check. I am clear about the unaccompanied minors. There was a commitment...

Other Questions: Homelessness Strategy (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Being homeless is distressing and stressful for children and adults alike. In the context of the Child Care Act 1991, my Department has policy responsibility for children under 18 years of age who present as "out of home" without their parent or guardian. Children under the age of 16 who present as homeless without their parent or guardian are taken into care. Children aged 16 and 17...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Staff (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I will take the Deputy's last question, on whether it would feed into the negotiations for budget 2018. The answer is "Absolutely." I am happy to come back with an exact, or almost exact, deadline for when we expect to have it but I need to check with officials first. The terms of the review are being worked on. I appreciate that the child care sector will be looking for them but its own...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Staff (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am very aware of those issues, which the organisations in question have also brought to my attention. There is a diversity of cost bases, depending on where they are located, and we must address these and take them into account in our review of costs. The review will provide us with better evidence than we have at the moment. That will enable us to make the case more strongly for...

Other Questions: Child Protection (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I assure the Deputy that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, deals immediately with emergency cases, including for instance if a child has been abandoned or is in immediate physical danger or at immediate risk of sexual abuse. Social work duty teams keep high-priority cases under review by regularly checking to ascertain risk to the child and where necessary will reprioritise the case. Tusla...

Other Questions: Child Protection (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla is responsible for children who need protection and need to be entered into care. The implementation of the Children First guidelines will be the basis on which concerns about children self-harming can be addressed. There will be training and manuals for persons working with children, across departments and in different settings, and these will assist people in dealing with such matters.

Other Questions: Child Protection (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Interagency co-operation is key, involving HSE, hospitals and Tusla and the Department. The interdepartmental working group is looking at this and ensuring that protocols of interagency co-operation are developed. In this way, any child who is in harm's way, whether because of self-harm or any child care or protection issues, will be dealt with appropriately and not left to chance, or dealt...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Data (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Deputy. I concur that her ability to do maths is good and accept what she said. Although there was a significant reduction of 19% in the number of unallocated cases in 2016, that does not mean the target was reached. It was a self-imposed target, but I am aware that it was not reached. Additional funding of €4.2 million has been allocated for the recruitment of almost...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Data (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: What I will say in response to the Deputy's question is that there are systems now in place. At she is aware, I have requested a full review of the systems and processes of Tusla in connection with the issues which she has raised because I also have those concerns. We will scope the terms of reference. It is my intention that this piece of work will be done as quickly as possible.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Staff (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: Staff in the child care sector have a critical role to play in delivering high quality child care services and deserve to be valued and respected for the important role they play with children. Because child care costs for parents in Ireland are among the highest in the OECD, we need to address the issues of affordability and quality at the same time. The Department is not an employer of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I will answer the Deputy's last question first. I would be happy to hold a meeting such as the one he requests. Second, with regard to funding for sustainability measures in a long-term capacity, the answer is "yes". The setting aside of €1 million for budget 2017 indicates the initial commitment and the ways in which my Department and I, in the discussions, try to support the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Foster Care Supports (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Rabbitte. I am happy to reply to her question again, with perhaps some additional information. Under Tusla's current national leaving and aftercare policy, young people leaving care are expected to have an aftercare plan. Tusla has informed me that from January up to the end of September 2016, 467 young persons in care turned 18 years of age. Of these, 457 young people...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Foster Care Supports (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: As Deputy Rabbitte knows, I always appreciate hearing her examples and about the conversations she is having as it is important for me, as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, to hear that as I feed into, in terms of my priorities, what Tusla is doing, particularly with regard to aftercare which, as I indicated to the Deputy earlier, it is reviewing. Statistics are important but as...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Foster Care Supports (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I accept and acknowledge the responsibilities of which Deputy Rabbitte speaks. It is correct that she should do so. What I have been indicating is an awareness of what the Deputy is saying while at the same time giving a commitment, as the Deputy has done, to ensure that the aftercare provisions are improved on and that any young person who wants to engage in aftercare as they age out of...