Results 41-60 of 20,049 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Reviews (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes made significant findings in relation to the failings of the State and religious organisations, who together ran Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. Government believes that all relevant parties have a collective responsibility to respond to Ireland's legacy in relation to Mother and Baby institutions. In early 2021, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Funding (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Ensuring access to early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. Capital funding has been made available to my Department under the National Development Plan. In 2025, €25m has been made available to deliver additional capacity under the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. The scheme is focused on supporting the creation of additional full day care places...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Strategies (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: My Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Reviews (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Pobal administer all childcare programmes on behalf of my Department. Pobal will be in contact shortly with the person named in regard to their application. Pobal and Better Start engage directly with service providers in regard to AIM applications, providing advice and assistance as needed.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: My Department is aware through Pobal who administer the scheme on behalf of my Department, that some providers have been experiencing a delay in processing AIM applications. The timeline for processing applications is currently under review between officials in my Department and Pobal. As scheme administrators, Pobal and Better Start engage directly with service providers in regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: There have been significant developments in the entitlements to family leaves for working families in recent years. First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028, committed to build incrementally over the course of the Strategy so that by 2028 parents in Ireland would have access to a range of family leaves for the first year of their...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (15 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Children in Care (10 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Foster carers play a vital role providing stable and caring homes for our most vulnerable children. Foster care is recognised as the preferred care setting for a child in the care of the State. As of Q4 2024, 87.2% of children in care were being cared for by foster carers, a figure which compares favourably internationally. However, it is recognised that the State faces an ongoing...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (10 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Officials from my Department have responded directly on the matter raised. For your information, since its introduction in 2022, Core Funding has seen consistent increased State investment to the sector year on year and is set in year 4 to be worth over €390 million contingent on the establishment of new minimum rates of pay in the sector through updated Employment Regulation Orders...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (10 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: As the subject matter of the Deputy's question relates to an operational matter for Tusla, I have referred the matter to them for a direct reply.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (10 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: I recently announced the details of the new maximum fee caps for early learning and childcare services participating in Core Funding alongside record State funding of €390 million this year for the Scheme. An initial maximum fee cap was put in place for new entrants to the scheme last year. New maximum fee caps will now be introduced for all new and existing services receiving this...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (10 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Special Educational Needs (10 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Ensuring access to early learning and childcare for all children, is a key priority for me as Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. A number of Programmes within my Department contribute to this objective. Firstly, the ECCE Programme offers quality early learning and care without charge to the parents of all children within the eligible age range of 2 years and 8 months and 5...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disabilities Assessments (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: This Government absolutely recognises that waiting times for Assessment of Need (AON) services and therapeutic interventions are far too long and is committed to improving the current situation. It is important to be aware that, while children have a right to apply for an AON, they do not need one in order to access health services, including those provided by Primary Care,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Prior to each year of Core Funding commencing, officials in my Department review the application system and make improvements to the system where necessary based on feedback from the sector about using the Core Funding Application system. Any enhancements made to the system are made with a view to making the system as user friendly as possible for providers in the sector. A significant...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Many families use the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) to help reduce the cost of early learning and childcare. Under the Scheme, subsidies are awarded as an hourly rate, with a maximum number of weekly hours for which the subsidy applies. The scheme enables parents and services to agree on subsidised sessional, part time or full time care arrangements as required. Discussion and agreement...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: Significant improvements have been made in the entitlements to both paid and unpaid leaves in recent years, including by extending paid parent's leave for parents to allow them to spend more time with their baby during their earliest years. First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028, committed to build incrementally over the course of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: I am sorry to hear of the difficulties being experienced by the parents of the child named. Early Learning and Care (ELC) and school aged childcare (SAC) services are provided by private enterprises, either privately owned or operated by community organisations and are free to operate their own admissions policies. My Department has no role in this regard. My Department funds a national...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Gender Equality (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: The Pay Transparency Directive (officially known as Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms) came into force in June 2023. Member States have three years from that date to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Child Protection (9 Jul 2025)

Norma Foley: The Government is firmly committed to ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ireland signed the Second Optional Protocol in 2000, and the Government is committed to taking the further step of ratifying it as soon as possible. In Irish treaty practice, the State must be in a position to meet the obligations it assumes under the terms of an...