Results 6,141-6,160 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Services (27 Sep 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla has advised that it has had no involvement with this initiative and has not received an application to register this application as a children's residential centre. Tusla will only place children in centres which have completed the registration process. It is Departmental and Tusla policy that children 12 years and younger requiring admission to care should be placed in foster care....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (27 Sep 2016)

Katherine Zappone: At the end of July 2016, there were a total of 25,069 open child welfare and protection cases nationwide. An open case is one which is assessed as needing a dedicated (allocated) social work service. Of the 25,069 open cases, 80% (20,019) had an allocated social worker and 5,050 were waiting to be allocated a social worker. This is a decrease of 1,668 (25%) in the number of unallocated...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (27 Sep 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The cost of introducing free universal childcare is very hard to forecast as the measure would have a major impact on childcare usage. The scale of this impact is very hard to predict. The fact that the take-up of the ECCE scheme is 95% indicates that a very large proportion of families who do not currently use non-parental childcare might take up the offer of free childcare. In addition, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (27 Sep 2016)

Katherine Zappone: At the end of 2015, the Child and Family Agency, Tusla developed a three-year plan which identified the requirement for additional resources to meet critical service concerns including targeted funding to address the findings of a national review of child welfare and protection cases awaiting allocation to a social worker. The plan to address unallocated cases involves increasing staffing...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (27 Sep 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The costs of the measures described are heavily dependent on uptake – it is estimated that, at present, 10% of children under three are in formal childcare. To cater for an expansion of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme would require significant capital investment to increase the capacity of the childcare sector. In addition, this is likely to require an enormous...

Government Appeal of European Commission Decision on State Aid to Apple: Motion (7 Sep 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Before I address the motion specifically, I thank the House for spending some time installing a sound system in the Dáil. As someone with profound hearing loss and as a user of hearing aids, I can now hear due to the fact that we have a loop system. I have been at an extreme disadvantage over the last number of months, but today I can hear and am grateful for that. I welcome today's...

Other Questions: Adoption Legislation (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Work on drafting the adoption (information and tracing) Bill is under way and I am committed to publishing it as early as possible after the summer recess. The heads and general scheme of the Bill were published in July 2015. It was then referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children for pre-legislative scrutiny, and the committee published its report in November 2015, as...

Other Questions: Adoption Legislation (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: In my earlier reply I tried to indicate that we are dealing with the issue. I very much appreciate that the Deputy has consistently asked questions that help me to maintain pressure in terms of the work of the Department. I hope to publish the Bill as soon as possible after the summer recess. We are waiting for a redraft of the Bill from the Office of the Attorney General and I hope...

Other Questions: Child Protection Services Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As I said earlier, ICT is critical to providing effective social work services for vulnerable children and families. This question is very similar to one that was asked earlier. The Deputy specifically focused on how important ICT is for the work of social workers. It is absolutely critical, as the current HIQA report and others have indicated. When the ICT system is rolled out, it...

Other Questions: Child Protection Services Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: In light of some earlier questions from Deputy Shortall, this would be a critical aspect of the retention of social workers. I hope this will be one of the best systems that are possible. A lot of time was spent on consultation throughout the country with users and providers to design a particular system. In light of that, I hope and expect that the new system will considerably increase...

Other Questions: Adoption Records Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I accept the concerns of the people involved, which the Deputy articulated. Like her, I am committed to investigating the issue. I would be willing to meet the survivors because hearing testimony or bearing witness directly is integral to the development of the best policy and practice the Government can provide. I thank the Deputy for bringing this matter to my attention.

Other Questions: Child Care Services Funding (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As of 18 July 2016, there were 739 children availing of the after-school child care programme. This equates to 318 after-school places. Of the 450 parents who are registered for ASCC this year, 29 have used their 52-week maximum allowance. For parents who have used their maximum allowance, the community child care subvention programme and the community child care subvention programme,...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Funding (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank the Deputy. I was not aware of those statistics. I am distressed to hear that. I would be very committed to looking for ways to ensure that as they move on to different ways of providing public support the lone parents and their families get back what they may have lost through previous cuts. I have identified some of the ways to do that within the programme for Government. ...

Other Questions: Child Care Services Funding (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome Deputy Bríd Smith’s presentation of cost-benefit analyses of quality child care and the importance of dealing with prevention and early intervention with other Ministers. I am trying to voice that to them. I am in complete agreement with what the Deputy says. This goes across the board. We need to ensure that those who govern the nation can see this. I think they...

Other Questions: Child Care Costs (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Coppinger. I identified those statistics and numbers again because that investment is reducing the costs of child care. Clearly that is not enough and I absolutely agree with the Deputy on that point. I agree that the scheme works for families with children from the ages of three to five and who are entering school age, but they are making the savings at that stage of their...

Other Questions: Child Care Costs (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Coppinger for her suggestions. I would be very interested in taking a further look at them with her. We are both agreed on the need to invest more. How to do that is a complicated process of identifying the best way to deliver access to quality and affordable child care for every child but especially for children from birth to six years of age and for a diversity of...

Other Questions: Adoption Records Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Deputy Daly has identified the question of the possibility of carrying out a full audit of the records. I have been advised by Tusla that the records of Saint Patrick’s Guild Adoption Society transferred to Tusla on 25 May 2016. The records transferred include details of adoption and fostering arrangements of children from 1910 onwards. Tusla received in excess of 13,000 records...

Other Questions: Adoption Records Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: There are two parts to the Deputy's question and I will deal with the issue of indemnity first. I assure the Deputy that I will commit to investigating the matter of indemnity. With regard to the importance the work of the investigations and how Tusla is managing the process, the agency has informed me that it now has a designated records storage facility in Dublin for the long-term...

Other Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Wallace. At all times my priority and that of Tusla is to ensure that the needs of women and children fleeing domestic violence are being met in the best way possible. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, allocates funding for a network of 60 organisations that provide services to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland. This includes 20 services that...

Other Questions: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I accept what Deputy Wallace outlined. I will take a look at that. It is important to investigate it. However, there is great need throughout the country in terms of other settings. There has been a slight increase in funding but I hear what the Deputy is saying, and it would be important to take a look at it again.