Results 7,221-7,240 of 11,903 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I certainly think it helps and gives clarity in that circumstance of illegal birth registration. In terms of the release of the name, this is something on which I and the team in my Department have engaged extensively with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.It is something that has been raised at other stages of the debate on this legislation. We are talking about a balancing test that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank all the Senators for their contributions on these amendments. Before I speak to amendments Nos. 56 to 61, inclusive, I want to say that Senator Boyhan is right to remind us all that, once this legislation is passed and operational and once adopted people are using its provisions, there are people who will be deeply disappointed because the information simply is not there. The...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: A detailed definition of "genetic relative" is set out in section 2. For other Senators, because Senator Higgins has asked the question, there is a detailed definition. "Genetic relative" means a full-blood or half-blood relative, which is a wide definition. I am happy to consider the question the Senator has asked.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Senator might look at section 2, which states: For the purposes of this Act, a person (“first mentioned person”) is the subject of an incorrect birth registration where— (a) as a result of the giving of information that was false or misleading ... That element of "false or misleading" that the Senator mentioned earlier on is directly included in section 2 and...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank all of the Senators for their engagement on this point. I will seek to address all that was said. First, I wish to respond to Senator Warfield's comment that some people who are illegally adopted have no rights under this Bill. As Senator Seery Kearney said, that is just wrong. The very centre of Parts 8 and 9 is about dealing with the situation of those who were the subject of...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Senator Boyhan for his comments. I, too, welcome this opportunity, which is longer perhaps in this House than the Committee Stage was in the other House. It is useful to tease through the issues. Specifically on Senator Higgins's point on using the word "or", I confirm that I specifically raised the issue of looking at "or" rather than having a pure substitution. Again, having...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I absolutely accept the sincerity in which all these amendments are offered. It is obviously any Senator's right to press an amendment. I think Senator Higgins and I are trying to achieve the same thing but whereas she is seeking to create two routes through the use of both "incorrect" and "illegal", I am seeking to broaden what we classify as incorrect by bringing in thee terms "false" and...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I believe the inclusion of those words achieves the recognition of both being false and the fact that it is misleading where there is a deliberate effort to mislead. It speaks to the points the Senator raised. I accept that she does not agree.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment seeks to alter the definition of "medical information" to reference the word "record". This amendment is a response to an oversight in the Bill as originally published, which provided for the medical information of a relevant person to be released but not for the release of the record itself directly to the person. During the Dáil debates I brought an amendment to the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: We discussed a similar issue earlier. Amendment No. 55 seeks to amend the definition of "early life information" from what it currently is, "information on any medical treatments, procedures or vaccinations administered to him or her", to read "medical information, including information on any medical treatments, procedures or vaccinations administered to him or her". I cannot support this...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot support amendment No. 65, which seeks to provide for an adoptive parent to apply for medical information for his or her adoptive child where that child is under 16 years of age. It seeks to alter the process through which the release of third-party medical information is provided. This issue is one that was subject to detailed consultations between us, the Office of the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Senator Boyhan raised the important point of the information about vaccine trials that were done and, as we know now, done without consent and often in breach of what were the medical guidelines of the time, which I believe were the Nuremberg guidelines. It is a source of great concern for many people who were in mother and baby or county home institutions or other institutions. As Senator...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority. Since 2015, significant increases in State investment in early learning and childcare has given rise to a substantial growth in the numbers of children participating in these services. More than 100,000 children now participate on the universal pre-school programme on...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Officials in my Department have recently engaged with the Dublin City Childcare Committee to identify vacant places for early learning and childcare in their catchment area. At present, there are 8,263 children enrolled in early learing and childcare services in Dublin City and 1,662 vacant places. Update data is currently being captured as part of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department’s main funding schemes to support families with the cost of early learning and childcare are the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). The main eligibility requirements for these schemes are that the family must be resident in Ireland and the parent(s) and child must have a PPS number. Families living in Northern...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Thank you for your question, Deputy. Please find the requested information in tabular form below concerning the contracts rather than leases that the Department has for the provision of accommodation or related services. State-owned accommodation Number County Location Management Company 1 Clare Knockalisheen Aramark ...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Work to examine the needs of bereaved parents coping with pregnancy loss is being advanced within my Department and officials are currently in the process of commissioning research to explore the workplace experiences of parents coping with pregnancy loss. The study will examine whether policy interventions are required at a national level to better support bereaved parents in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 149 together. On 4th May I met with a delegation for the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) to discuss their position in relation to the new Core Funding stream following a survey of their members. The FECP shared extremely detailed materials at this meeting, including case studies and extensive data on provider costs. This was followed...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In December 2021, Government adopted the 25 recommendations contained in an Expert Group report, Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC). The new funding model will support delivery of ELC and SAC for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families. To achieve this, there is a need...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (18 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The term ‘reasonable profit’ has a particular meaning within European legislation on State Aid, and particularly the conditions under which State Aid rules do not apply whereby investment in considered to be a Service of General Economic Interest. Advice received on this issue points to reasonable profit consisting of the level of return from risk-free investment (swap rates)...