Results 7,521-7,540 of 11,700 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy has raised a wide range of questions there that I probably will not be able to address comprehensively in one minute. The core funding is there this year to ensure that childcare workers are supported, reflecting the point that the Deputy has made that they are not getting adequately paid. It is also to support the sustainability of services in order that the 4,500 facilities...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his contribution. That is the reason that I am bringing forward a package of €221 million in core funding for the childcare sector in a full year. That money is primarily designed to address the issue specifically raised by the Deputy on the rates of pay that our fantastic childcare professionals receive at the moment. Core funding, dependent on the employment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Official Engagements (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for his question. Last week, I visited the United States to undertake a series of engagements as part of the State’s annual St. Patrick’s Day programme, as well as to head the delegation attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women as Minister responsible for equality. These engagements bolstered the Irish Government’s support for the large...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Official Engagements (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I found the bilateral engagements with a number of ministers particularly beneficial. I met ministers from Belgium and from Sierra Leone where we discussed the support that Irish Aid is giving there. With Belgium we discussed issues to do with their approach to domestic violence. I met the British minister on women's issues and it was a very useful engagement there. In particular, I had...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Poverty (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I believe significant progress can be made through my Department's co-ordination of the EU child guarantee, which is an important initiative that aims to combat social exclusion by guaranteeing access for children who are in need of a range of key services. I will publish our national action plan for the child guarantee shortly. The commitments under the guarantee...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Poverty (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The child guarantee will sit as a part of the broader successor framework to Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. It is the national policy of the State in respect of children. I have asked that child poverty be a key element of our new national policy. The EU child guarantee will sit within that. The guarantee is a little narrower in its scope; it is targeted at children who are most in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Poverty (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are very aware of the impact this brutal war has had on so many civilians, but particularly on children, and we will in the coming weeks have to provide supports to those children as they arrive. As I stated earlier, right now the response has very much been towards getting accommodation. It is currently about getting shelter and safety for people and making sure they have a bed, but...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take questions Nos. 14 and 15 together. Significant investment is being made by my Department to support parents with the costs of early learning and childcare. The national childcare scheme, NCS, is currently supporting thousands of families to offset their costs. A recent review of the NCS showed that 38% of families had more than half their early learning and childcare costs...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. In March, following publication of the independent review into illegal birth registrations, I asked Professor Conor O'Mahony, the special rapporteur on child protection, to consider the significant complexities and challenges which arise regarding the issue of illegal birth registrations and to provide a report proposing an appropriate course of action. On 14 March, I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is absolutely right in saying that if we do not look we cannot find. That is why I have prioritised the birth information and tracing legislation, which provides the mechanisms to allow us to find this information and get birth certificates, records and early life information which is the core way in which we can find out if someone has been subjected to an illegal birth...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Professor O'Mahony conducted a very detailed piece of work within a short period of time. When I get detailed work, I give it the time to consider it. There were 17 detailed and complex recommendations. I do not rush into things in this area. I give them time and consideration. Through doing that we have a strong Birth Information and Tracing Bill and strong Institutional Burials Bill...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. We are proceeding on a phased basis. The initial phase involves hotel accommodation. Two thousand five hundred rooms have been procured in recent weeks. We are now moving on to the pledges and seeking in the first instance to activate the vacant houses or fully vacant units into which people can move quickly. Following on from that will be shared accommodation in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I prepared a response for Deputy Niamh Smyth. I might put that on the record and then address the Deputy's question, on Carlow. Deputy Niamh Smyth has raised this issue regularly. I have received correspondence from Cavan County Council on the matter. I am very much aware of the importance of refuge protection in counties such as Cavan and Monaghan, and, indeed, Carlow. The response...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is great that the Deputy has got the group together. It shows the genuine commitment to the delivery of refuge services in Carlow. The Deputy raised this with me when I visited Carlow recently. She has clearly identified that the mechanisms for the delivery of refuges up to this point have been slow, cumbersome and ill-focused. That is one of the key issues that the Minister for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As both Deputies know, responsibility for delivering the refuge services is being moved from the Department and Tusla to the Department of Justice. That is an issue on which the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and I have been working. It has been decided across Government that the Department of Justice is the appropriate location for both the setting of policy and the delivery of new...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: First, it is important to say that we are taking an all-of-government approach, led by the Department of the Taoiseach. The Deputy is right that transport will be a key element and I will be engaging with the Department of Transport on that. It is important that each Department is responsible for its particular element of the response to the crisis. We all will work together to deliver for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is 28 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. All of Europe is responding to a crisis none of us foresaw and which is happening at a scale none of us foresaw. Yes, the response right now is imperfect. We are doing our best to meet the immediate needs about which Deputy Moynihan spoke and to plan for what could be very significant medium- to long-term needs. The entire system is coming...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware, accommodation is being made available by the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, of my Department to meet the needs of Ukrainian refugees. So far, accommodation has been provided to more than 4,500 people. The community sponsorship model he referenced was developed by the Government in collaboration with non-governmental partners such as the Irish...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is right that the community sponsorship model was brought forward in a different time and it responded to the very real needs of Afghan refugees last year and Syrian refugees prior to that. It was an extremely successful programme and communities really have rallied around to support those who arrived. However, it was done on a small scale, whereas now we are undertaking...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (24 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I very much recognise the needs of children from disadvantaged areas. That is why we have made changes to the scheme. We have made it clear that sponsorship should be interpreted broadly, particularly by Tusla. That has led to a significant increase in the number of children getting full hours through the sponsorship process. We also removed the wraparound hours, which will benefit 5,000...