Results 7,921-7,940 of 11,246 for speaker:Colm Burke

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Some programmes would normally be run during the summer months or they would have been run in recent months. A reduced number of children will now be accommodated. What percentage reduction are we talking about?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: What kind of numbers of students are we talking about for those schemes?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Is there any breakdown in the figures for Cork city and county?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I would appreciate that. I refer to access to and the availability of broadband. The past number of months has been a very challenging time for parents. On average, taking, for example, 100 families that have children who require special support, what number were not able to get any assistance over recent months because of various problems, such as access to broadband or support services?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I fully accept that and I was not referring to it being used for educational purposes for the child. I am talking about support for parents. Should we be doing much more in this area to make sure that parents have access? Where there are difficulties in getting access to information and supports should we have a particular programme to help parents?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I will move on to SNAs. In recent years, the number of SNAs in primary schools has increased by more than 5,000. In view of the changes that have occurred because of the new challenges posed by Covid, what increase, percentage-wise, do we believe we need to start planning for? The other aspect of this is whether we need to put in place additional training for people working in the area....

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: We have a huge number of young people, many of whom are highly qualified in different areas and not necessarily just in childcare. More than 50% of young people no longer have a job and the next 12 months will be challenging for them. Should we devise a training process for some of those who want to volunteer to come into this area which does not have adequate capacity for training at the...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Is there any plan at the moment within the Department to look at that?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank the SIPTU and INMO representatives for coming in this morning and for their detailed submissions, which we appreciate. I also thank their members for all the work they have done over the past three or four months in a very difficult situation. I will touch on one or two items. One relates to the number of people in the healthcare sector who have been affected. Is there a breakdown...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I am asking about the number affected. More than 8,000 healthcare workers have been affected. Is there a breakdown of the settings in which the more than 8,000 who have been affected work, whether in hospitals, nursing homes or mental health facilities?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I will return to the issue of childcare facilities. Obviously, in a lot of cases, the staff of those facilities were facing a huge problem. The breakdown of the figures shows that where grandparents were looking after children, that more or less stopped once the lockdown came. In terms of the numbers affected, do the witnesses have any information about how people were able to resource...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Mr. Bell spoke about the lack of flexibility in regard to accommodating healthcare workers. Going forward, what does he suggest should be done to deal with that issue? We may have challenges in this regard in the future. How can we introduce the flexibility that is needed and how can management work with staff to ensure they are accommodated?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for coming here today, for making their presentations, for all of the work they do and for the commitment that they and their staff have. It is very much appreciated. A number of people touched on the issue of insurance. Could we have some idea of the annual premium for the average facility at the moment? What is the level of claims against facilities? Can it be...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: If we take it as €9,000, what number of children would we be talking about in such a facility?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Has there been any discussion with any of the Government Departments on this issue of insurance? We have had to do a deal in this regard with the healthcare sector, whereby the State has had to take over insurance in the healthcare sector. In particular given there is, I think it was said, only one main insurer for the sector, the question is whether or not this would be part of a package...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: As I understand it, there is one organisation dealing with insurance for the primary schools. Would it not be possible to incorporate the cover for childcare facilities under a similar arrangement as what is at present in place in primary schools?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I will move on to the area of staff recruitment. I think a presentation earlier referred to 23.4% annual turnover of staff. When staff move on, have we any idea where they go? Is it the case that they move on to other facilities? Do they move on to a total change of work style? I think there was a 40% turnover of workers in full-day care facilities. Have we any idea where people move to...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Have we any idea of the percentage of people working in the childcare sector who earn less than €350 per week?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Outside of insurance and wage costs, what are the biggest costs that the childcare sector faces? What are the other obstacles at the moment to providing an efficient system?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: That would obviously depend on whether the service was in an urban or a rural setting.