Results 6,201-6,220 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Garda Youth Diversion Projects (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Statutory provision in relation to young offenders is set out in the Children Act 2001. The elements of the Children Act relating to the operation of the Garda Youth Diversion Programme, matters relating to criminal proceedings against children, criminal law issues and the operation of the Children Court under the Act come within the remit of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I was delighted to announce recently that more than €6.5m in capital funding has been allocated through my Department to 1,006 pre-school providers nationwide. This represents an increase of over €2.5m on the amount of €4m announced for this programme in February 2016. This grant has been made available for early years pre-school services, both private and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: When the Early Years Quality Agenda was introduced in 2013, in order to further improve quality in pre-school services, one of the items to be progressed was the introduction of a requirement that all staff working with children in early years services should hold a qualification in early childhood care and education at a minimum of Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) or...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Community Childcare Subvention Programme (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has been monitoring the take-up of both the Childcare Subvention programme (CCS) and the Childcare Subvention Programme (Private)(CCSP) places and will be instituting a number of initiatives to increase public awareness of the CCS Programme overall. These initiatives include advertisements on social media sites, local and national newspapers and within community settings and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: HSE Funding (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I wish to inform the Deputy that I am aware of the issue of the alleged withdrawal of HSE supports for children with disabilities attending the Early Education and Care Programme in County Donegal. My officials have been informed by the HSE this week that no services are being withdrawn and that the same amount of funding continues to be allocated to these supports. However, with the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Social Workers Recruitment (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Since the beginning of 2016 Tusla has recruited 167 social workers, 64 have resigned and 10 have retired. In this context, I strongly support Tusla's three-year plan that will provide extra staffing to meet critical service concerns. These include children who have no allocated social worker. The plan involves increasing overall staffing levels in Tusla by 323 whole-time equivalents, with...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Services (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Adult disclosure, or retrospective cases, are where an adult comes forward and makes a complaint that he or she was abused as a child. The vast majority of such complaints relate to sexual abuse. The Gardaí are always informed of these complaints and their role is to carry out a criminal investigation into the complaint. Tusla's job is to try and establish if the alleged abuser poses...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Funding (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I was delighted to announce recently that more than €6.5m in capital funding has been allocated through my Department to 1,006 pre-school providers nationwide. This represents an increase of over €2.5m on the amount of €4m announced for this programme in February 2016. This grant has been made available for early years pre-school services, both private and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Drugs Strategy Implementation (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: The Minister of State with responsibility for the Drugs Strategy and Communities has overall responsibility for coordinating the National Drugs Strategy across Government Departments. My Department has a key role in the prevention arm of the current National Drugs Strategy 2009- 2016. In 2016, funding of €51m (current) and €3m (capital) has been allocated to my Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs Staff (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I wish to inform the Deputy that I am aware of the issue of the alleged withdrawal of HSE supports for children with disabilities attending the Early Education and Care Programme in County Donegal, although I have not seen the specific survey referred to by the Deputy. My officials have been informed by the HSE this week that no services are being withdrawn and that the same amount of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: In Budget 2016, my Department announced a significant expansion to preschool provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. This measure, which will be introduced from September 2016, means that children will be eligible to start free pr-school when they reach the age of 3, and continue to avail of free preschool until they start primary school (once the child is...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: It is recognised that particular groups of children and young people can face more challenges in achieving the five national outcomes set out in Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (2014-2020), and numerous specific commitments of the Framework reflect this. My Department identified prevention and early intervention as a key...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I reject the characterisation put forward by the Deputy regarding the quality of provision across the range of residential services provided by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. In the case of private residential centres, Tusla carries out a robust process of registration, monitoring and inspection. This process ensures that the quality of provision is put in place from the start and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I understand from my colleagues in Kerry County Childcare Committee that your constituent, to whom you refer in your question, has made an application to participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme for the coming academic year. New Service Agreements will be processed shortly by my officials with the cooperation of the City and County Childcare Committees. ...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff Sick Leave (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As my Department was established on 2nd June 2011, the information requested by the Deputy is provided from June 2011 onwards. Lost Time Rate 2011 (June - December) 2012 2013 2014 2015 5.48% 3.49% 3.52% 5.75% 4.2% As a small organisation, this Department is more susceptible to fluctuations or high percentages as a result of long term absences and this was particularly the case for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Homeless Accommodation Provision (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As these are operational matters, I have asked Tusla – The Child and Family Agency to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As this information is not readily available in my Department, I have asked TUSLA to reply directly to the Deputy with the information required.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Each childcare provider who operates the ECCE programme must have a Service Agreement with my Department. One of the terms of this Agreement is that the Agreement may be terminated by either party by serving 3 months written notice to the other party. It follows that the childcare provider should inform the parents as soon as is practicable after serving notice to my Department. Closure...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Where there is an obvious ongoing risk to a child, whether in their family home or in a care placement, the child has to be made safe. That either involves removing the risk, or removing the child. The impact of removing a child from their home is a serious one with possible adverse implications for them, and so should only be done where there is no alternative and where it is based on an...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (21 Jul 2016)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has a range of systems in place to ensure it is informed of risk to children and families. Tusla, within its national office, has a dedicated Quality Assurance Team. This team produces monthly, quarterly and annual reports in respect of Tusla's functions, and includes detailed reporting on key performance indicators on waiting times for cases to be allocated. Tusla also...