Results 5,661-5,680 of 11,907 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: There are two separate teams. Originally, it was one team but because of the scale of the need to achieve accommodation, that has been separated in two. There is parity in the Department's prioritisation of achieving accommodation but it is much harder to get accommodation for international protection applicants when we engage with the private sector. That is a reality we face, but there...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I agree with her initial comments on our approach and the misuse of concerns by certain nefarious groups, and we are aware of that. In terms of the assistance from other Departments, and particularly in terms of the move to a longer-term accommodation approach, we are working closely with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. That Department,...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: We estimate that approximately 11,000 Ukrainians are now working in the country. That is a significant addition to the workforce. English language supports are available to them through education and training boards, ETBs. I cannot give more detail on the employment activation provisions, which is more a matter for the Department of Social Protection or the Department of Further and Higher...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy mentioned the figure of 200,000. At the start of the war the media quoted a range of figures for the numbers who might flee Ukraine generally and the numbers who might arrive in Ireland. However, no one ever said we would be having 200,000 here. I certainly have never said we were expecting 200,000. I always said we would see the numbers as they arise. This is a wartime...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I understand that a contract extension has not yet been undertaken for Dolcain House. There is an option and it is likely that it will be taken up, but it has not been yet. I would wait until there is certainty about that before communicating it. The Deputy is right that it should be communicated at the same time to all Members of the Oireachtas. I left the Dáil so I did not hear the...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: First, I have no problem with answering questions, which is why I am here, and I am happy to engage with members and to continue to do so. On the co-location of Ukrainian or other accommodation with educational facilities, that has happened in a number of instances, so we have some experience of it. I think it would be best if the Deputy engaged with us and we can take the matter offline...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is higher than mine as well. The units are built off-site, delivered in a truck and established on-site. We expect that early in the new year, the first set of modular accommodation will be delivered. A total of 500 units are to be delivered under the programme as currently agreed, but there is scope to extend that subject to another Government decision. As I have always said, this is...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I take on board the Deputy's point on intercountry adoption. We can ask our adoption unit to consider it and deepen our engagement with Ukraine. The Deputy is correct about the importance of empowering local authorities. Both he and I have spent time on local authorities and will have noted the important and significant things they can do when fully resourced. The points Deputy Murnane...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My understanding is that it is new. In certain areas, it could have been filled by an existing staff member, in which case that person's old post would have been backfilled, but my understanding is that the role was funded as a new one across all local authorities.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: No. I thank the Chair. I appreciate the members' questions and engagement. I will be happy to continue to engage as we work to meet the needs of international protection applicants and Ukrainians in our country.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Refugee Accommodation Crisis: Engagement with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (22 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is right to bring it back to the stakes that we face, with the incredibly difficult winter that so many Ukrainians will face. There is not only a war in their country and severe damage to buildings and critical infrastructure, but they are not able to heat themselves in many circumstances. That is a deliberate policy of the Russian military. Any emergency accommodation centres...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Bodies (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will engage with the Deputy and look into that matter further. His interventions will always be welcome.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Children in Care (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla is doing a very significant piece of work on the whole area of alternative care. It is bringing forward three key documents, namely, the document on residential care that was published a couple of months ago, the foster care plan we talked about that has just been published, and a document on aftercare. These are the three core elements of alternative care. It might be useful to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Children in Care (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would certainly be happy to engage with the joint committee on this issue. We can continue to be reasonably proud as country that when children are taken into care, 89% of them go to foster care rather than residential. That is a strong proportion compared to other European countries. We want to avoid any child going into care but where it is necessary, it is good that it is in a family...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Bodies (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware, responsibility for the delivery of child protection and welfare services is a matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The Children First Act 2015 provides for a number of key child protection measures, including raising awareness of child abuse and neglect, providing for mandated reporting of child protection concerns and improving child protection arrangements...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Bodies (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am sure the Deputy will understand that I am reluctant to comment in the House on the specific details of a case I am not at all familiar with. I am happy to engage with him should he wish to give me an update. Unlike him, with his degree of experience, I have not attended a Tusla conference as an elected representative so I am not quite sure what the processes and procedures are there....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The very small number of parents who are using childminders registered with Tusla are able to avail of it already. The Deputy stated that the first phase is set out until 2024. I have asked my officials to see if we can condense that phase as much as possible. I am conscious that many parents using childminders will see the support that parents using centre-based care are getting and will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is correct that many people - it is primarily women - who enter childminding do so on an ad hocbasis. What we are talking about here, however, is that when the ad hocbasis is supported by State money through the NCS and we are providing a subsidy towards that, we have to have guarantees in terms of the quality of provision. There has to be something of that kind when it come to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Children in Care (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Foster care is the preferred option for children who cannot live with their parents or guardians. Approximately 89% of children in care are currently being cared for by foster carers, enabling them to live in a safe, secure and stable home environment. Foster care provision in an Irish context can be described as general foster care or relative foster care. In the case of general foster...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Asylum Seekers (17 Nov 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware following our earlier discussions, we are working with HIQA to implement the commitment for HIQA to monitor International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, centres against national standards adopted in 2019 and in effect since the beginning of 2021. Planning is well advanced on this process. Detailed work is being undertaken by my Department, in consultation...