Results 5,861-5,880 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Expenditure (24 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 278 and 279 together. Community Childcare Services and private childcare services operate a variety of childcare schemes funded by my Department. These include the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, the Community Education and Training Scheme, the After School Childcare Scheme and the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Under the Child Care Act, 1991 and the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended) the responsibilities of the State are set out in relation to the care needs of separated children who seek asylum in the State. Where separated children are identified by An Garda Síochána, at the point of entry, their circumstances are investigated and the provisions of the Child Care Act, 1991, apply, i.e. the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The All Party Dáil motion, approved by Government on 10 November last, called on the Government to work with the French authorities, to identify up to 200 unaccompanied minors previously living in the unofficial migrant camp in Calais, and who have expressed a desire to come and stay in Ireland. The motion further states that any requests from France for assistance in this regard must...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I am very pleased that from September 2017, a new Affordable Childcare Scheme will be introduced to provide financial support for parents towards the cost of childcare. The scheme will be set out in primary legislation, encompassing: - clear and detailed rules for the assessment of income and the provision of subsidies; - clearly prescribed authority in relation to the sharing of data...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: From September 2017 a new Affordable Childcare scheme will be introduced which will provide financial support for parents towards the cost of childcare. The new scheme will provide a system from which both universal and targeted subsidies can be provided towards the cost of childcare. This new scheme will replace the existing targeted childcare programmes with a single, streamlined and more...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: In policy terms, matters in relation to vaccine trials are an issue for my colleague the Minister for Health within his responsibility for clinical trials involving medicinal products. However, as the Deputy will be aware the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork is one of the fourteen named institutions currently being examined by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 218 to 220, inclusive, together. Documentation from the former Bessborough and Tuam Mother and Baby Homes was examined by the HSE as part of its response to the Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalene Laundries. In the course of this work the HSE provided a draft report to the Committee secretariat and to the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Costs (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: All providers participating in the various DCYA Programmes are required to clearly publish their fees so that parents can compare providers and, where applicable, can see what their co-payment would be after taking account of any State subsidy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Patronage (23 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The matter raised by the Deputy refers to the relationship between a school and their patron organisation and hence not relevant to my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The correspondence supplied relates to a situation where a childcare provider operating the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme will have been paid in respect of seventeen weeks childcare provision prior to Christmas 2016. The next ECCE payment is due to be received by providers by December 9th, at which point services will have been paid for up to twenty weeks of provision....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was established in February 2015 (S.I. No. 57 of 2015). The terms of reference require the Commission to submit three reports, namely an academic social history report; a confidential committee report on witness hearings, and the final report of the investigation into the 14 named Mother and Baby Homes and a representative sample of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Records Provision (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Adoption (Information ) and Tracing Bill 2016 was submitted to Government this week, seeking approval to publish the Bill. This Bill provides for adopted persons to access medical information, that is in relation to an adopted person his or her medical history, and the medical history of his or her birth parent, where that history is, or is likely to be, of relevance to the maintenance...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Detention Centres (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As the review of operations and best practice of the Oberstown Children Detention Campus (Oberstown) announced on the 19thSeptember 2016 was commissioned by the Board of Management of Oberstown, I am referring the matter to the Board for direct response to you.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Injury Warrants are a series of statutory instruments, made under the Superannuation Act 1887, which provide benefits to or in respect of officers, who, through no fault of their own, are killed or injured while performing their duties. These benefits comprise (a) annual allowances, (b) gratuities, (c) loss of earnings, allowances and (d) refunds of certain expenses. All claims for any...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Residential Institutions Data (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: At the end of June 2016, there were 209 children in statutory care of Tusla in Donegal with over 96% in foster care, broken down by 79% in general foster care and 17% in relative foster care. Less than 2% of children were in general residential care with the remainder in other placements determined by their care plan. This compares very favourably with the national figure of just over 93%...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As Tusla, the Child and Family Agency was set up in 2014 it can provide the number of staff allocated to its Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum teams since establishment which is as follows:- Year Number of Staff December 2014 WTE 12.33 December 2015 WTE 12.79 September 2016 WTE 12.82 Tusla has further advised that it does not hold staffing details for Unaccompanied Minors Seeking...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Brexit Issues (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: A Brexit sub Committee has not been established in my Department, but I am maintaining a close involvement in monitoring the potential implications of the UK's decision to leave the EU. Last week I held a valuable discussion with the Advisory Council on Better Outcomes Brighter Futures, to consider the possible impact on children and young people of the UK's impending departure from the EU....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Properties (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not own any vacant State property or land, including car parks not in use. I can confirm that the only known sole occupancy property currently owned by Tusla, and which is vacant, is located at 69 Amiens Street, Dublin 1 in the Dublin City Council area and has been vacant for two years. Tusla is endeavouring to secure funding for a change...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The funding allocated to the Family Resource Centre Programme is a matter primarily for consideration by Tusla in the first instance, having regard to the overall level of funding available to it in 2016. The Deputy might note that a proposal was received by my Department late last week from Tusla in relation to the provision of additional once-off resources to support the Family...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children (22 Nov 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I have asked Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to review its ability to provide safety, protection and hope to greater numbers of unaccompanied children, and this includes the assessment of the resources that may be needed. Any decisions regarding resources will be made in this context.