Results 6,281-6,300 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Youth Services Grant Scheme (YSGS) provides funding to national voluntary organisations with an interest in youth services or youth work. The 2022 YSGS allocation to the National Youth Organisations for 2022 is €12,886,600. The cost of a 40% increase on the 2022 funding allocation funded under the youth service grant scheme would be €5,154,640 approx. There are 30 national...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Funding allocated to the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme in 2022 was €2.5 million. A 33% increase in funding for this scheme would represent €832,500 approx. Funding under the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme (LYCGS) is provided to Education and Training Boards to manage the development and provision of youth clubs locally. This supports volunteer-led youth club/group activities...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the Family Resource Centre programme which provides funding to 121 centres across the country. My Department allocates core funding for the Family Resource Centre programme which has amounted to some €18m in 2022. Therefore, the estimated cost to increase funding by 20% for the Family Resource Centre programme would be approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Extrapolated data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2020/2021 suggests that in 2021 there were approximately 26,200 staff working directly with children in Early Learning and Care (ELC) services, of whom 24.9% held a relevant Level 5 major award as their highest qualification, i.e. approximately 6,520 staff. Currently the Learner Fund provides a bursary of €750 for staff who...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The 2022 allocated budget for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is €45.55 million. This funding covers the cost of the seven levels of AIM, which encompass a range of both universal and targeted supports for pre-school settings. This funding provides a programme of capital grants for specialised equipment, appliances, assistive technology and/or minor alterations for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is referring to an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have therefore referred the matter to Tusla, and asked that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Asylum Seekers (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: First of all, I would like to assure you that the health and wellbeing of all people who avail of accommodation provided by this Department is of the highest priority to myself and my officials. All services for international protection (IP) applicants are mainstreamed. Applicants access health services through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens, including referrals to medical and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Staff (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: All staff within my Department are paid in line with standard civil service pay scales. A list of these can be found here: .

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 404 and 407 together. The next cycle for UBU Your Place Your Space is due to start on 1 January 2024. This is to be preceded by an area profiling exercise and application process. UBU Your Place Your Space does allow for changes or improvements, as might be expected in a cyclical scheme. However, as regards the underlying policy, no change to the approach...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Staff (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department does not recruit staff directly. The Public Appointments Service recruits all staff for my Department. The agencies under the remit of my Department have been asked to respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Measures (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department is currently working with the Health Information Quality Authority (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. My Department is currently engaging with HIQA on resources and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Rights of People with Disabilities (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can inform the Deputy that my Department operates from two building locations, Miesian Plaza and Montague Court, neither of which are owned by my Department. These offices are not open to the public for the purpose of accessing services. In respect of bodies under the aegis of my Department, I can advise the Deputy as follows: Body Location Child and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In Budget 2022, I secured an additional €78m in funding for early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC), bringing the total investment in the sector to €716m in 2022. This will allow my Department to bring forward a substantial and comprehensive package of developments to achieve significant progress on its policy priorities of affordable, high quality,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is assumed the Deputy is referring to the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) as the means through which the cost of childcare is to be reduced. In Budget 2022, I announced an end to the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefiting an estimated 5,000 children from low income families since 2 May 2022. I also announced the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware, the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a Scheme of financial support to help parents with the cost of their childcare. The Scheme comprises two types of subsidies: - A universal subsidyis currently payable for children between the ages of 24 weeks and 36 months (or until the child qualifies for the Early Childhood Care and Education programme if later) who are...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Rights of People with Disabilities (13 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The organisation the Deputy refers to are members of the new Disability Stakeholder Group and on that basis are involved in the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDISSG), chaired by my Ministerial colleague Minister Rabbitte. The organisation has been represented at the following NDISSG meetings, chaired by Minister Rabbitte: - 14 December 2021 - 29 March 2022 - 13 April...

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund: Motion (12 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank all Members for their engagement on, and their contributions, to this issue. I wish to take a few moments to restate the benefits of opting into these amendments to the AMIF programme. The fund will help to support a broad range of programmes in the area of asylum, migration and integration in Ireland and the State's response to the Ukraine crisis. It is my intention to build on...

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund: Motion (12 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on the European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to accept the following measure: Proposal for a Regulation...

Confidence in Government: Motion (12 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has said, Ireland has been profoundly challenged over the past two years with the global pandemic, a war in Europe and a once-in-a-generation spike in inflation. This Government has managed those enormous challenges and at the same time has delivered new and reforming policies that improve life for people and families across this country. It is on...

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community: Motion (12 Jul 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the committee members, and particularly the chair, Senator Flynn, for their comprehensive report which raises many key issues and makes a number of really important recommendations which will require work across all Departments and agencies of the State. Travellers in Ireland have faced, and continue to face, systemic racism. I will take this opportunity to reaffirm my commitment...