Results 5,481-5,500 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

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

Katherine Zappone: I acknowledge Deputy O'Sullivan's concern. Of course, I understand them. As I said, I am willing to engage should that be the decision of the Business Committee. On the question the Deputy has put before me, as she is aware, 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...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Rabbitte for those qualifying questions. Tusla is currently finalising details of the funding to be allocated to family resource centres in 2017. As the Deputy knows, I was able to increase the overall budget for Tusla for 2017. It will confirm funding levels for individual centres shortly. I understand the various issues raised by the Deputy in terms of the difficulties...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I have no doubt that Tusla will be aware of and listening to the comments that the Deputy is raising, as I am myself, in terms of the ways in which the supports and resources that are being provided to the family resource centres can be used in the most effective manner. The Deputy has suggested that there are certain ways in which additional resources should be targeted in order to increase...

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

Katherine Zappone: I acknowledge the Deputy's initial comments. I am very willing and happy to participate in any of the decisions that the business committee is now engaged in. With regard to the parliamentary question, I am aware that providing care for children below the age of three results in higher costs to services than caring for older children. This is as a result of the legally required adult-child...

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

Katherine Zappone: As Deputy Ó Laoghaire is well aware, we have had these discussions extensively with regard to concerns that he has raised about centres in his own constituency. We have been attentive to those and I have been specifically concerned about the centres he has raised. I know that resources are required. The Deputy questioned that €1 million figure. However, we did set aside a...

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

Katherine Zappone: It is.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Family Resource Centres (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I very much value the role that family resource centres play in providing support to vulnerable children and families. Tusla provides a significant level of financial support to family resource centres across the country to assist them in their work with vulnerable children and families. Tusla provides funding to some 109 communities through the family and community services resource centre...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Staff (14 Feb 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: Youth Services Funding (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to confirm that I have allocated an extra €5.5m in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2017. This will bring the total youth funding by my Department to €57.4m, an increase of 10% over last year's allocation. The additional funding will be used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people and to assist national youth...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Services (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am very conscious of the need for additional resources for the Separated Children Seeking Asylum team in Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to allow us to respond to the current crisis facing all of us in Europe. I saw this for myself when I met with Greek ministers and with vulnerable families being assisted by our efforts in Greece under the Irish Refugee Programme. I want to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 66 together. As I have previously outlined to the House, it is my intention to publish the Second Interim Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in conjunction with the Government's response to the Report. Given the broad scope of the Commission's work a number of issues in the Report extend beyond the remit of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I have given considerable thought to the question of taking rent or mortgage payments into account when calculating the subsidy under the new scheme. In doing so, I was conscious that excluding housing costs is fairer for families with the same income but different housing choices. Allowing the deductibility of housing costs would, in effect, mean that the Affordable Childcare Scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I recently announced that €1m of additional funding will be made available to childcare providers who have been facilitating the training of Community Employment (CE) scheme workers, to ensure that regulatory changes do not impact on service delivery or the availability of childcare places. In preparation for the implementation of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services)...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Homeless Persons Supports (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: As part of a whole-Government approach to homelessness, with input across different departments, I am also committed to helping children and families by supporting implementation of Rebuilding Ireland: the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. While the concerted efforts and actions outlined in the Action Plan will result in families moving on from hotels more quickly, my Department,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am very conscious of the need for additional resources for the Separated Children Seeking Asylum team in Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to allow us to respond to the current crisis facing all of us in Europe. I saw this for myself when I met with Greek ministers and with vulnerable families being assisted by our efforts in Greece under the Irish Refugee Programme. I want to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I acknowledge the concern of both parents and childcare providers who are understandably anxious to receive further information about the roll-out of the Affordable Childcare Scheme. The Scheme is being introduced to an ambitious timeframe, and my officials are working hard to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to introduce the Scheme on time. The Affordable Childcare Scheme will...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Provision (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Provision (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board has requested funding from my Department for the provision of a full time youth officer for County Kildare. My Department is engaging with the ETB in this regard and I hope to be in a position to make a determination on this request in the coming weeks. In the interim, the ETB has a Youth Officer who is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children and Family Services Provision (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has not engaged in any specific study related to potential damage to children affected by parental imprisonment. However, I note, my colleague the Tánaiste Deputy Fitzgerald has been advised by the Irish Prison Service of the Department of Justice and Equality, that following publication of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) report entitled: “Picking Up the Pieces:...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (14 Feb 2017)

Katherine Zappone: I very much value the role that Family Resource Centres play in providing support to vulnerable children and families around the country. Tusla provides financial support to some 109 communities through the Family and Community Services Resource Centre Programme. This typically covers the employment of two to three members of staff and some overhead costs. In 2016, Tusla provided...