Results 8,081-8,100 of 11,729 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Policies (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The national participation framework for children and young people's participation in decision making was published in April last year. It plays a vital role in ensuring that all children and young people are respected and listened to and that their views are taken on board routinely in the public services offered to them. The framework's implementation is actively supported by my...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Policies (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for her advocacy on these issues. There are very tangible examples of the youth participation framework acting to influence Government policy. When the climate action plan was being drafted, there was a youth participation strand to get the views of young people on that issue. Similarly, the youth justice policy launched in 2020 is absolutely essential with regard to its...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Policies (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The key practical step we are taking is the provision of the €150,000 grant that is available to a whole range of youth organisations to allow them to upskill and train their members, increasing their ability to undertake youth participation. The Deputy has referenced a number of vulnerable groups. That is particularly important. That is the next step. Hub na nÓg is really...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As I said in response to an earlier question, I am very conscious of the need for a significant improvement in pay and working conditions in the early learning and childcare sector. The level of pay, which averaged €12.60 per hour in 2021, does not in any way reflect the importance of the work or the skill and expertise required. The consequence of low pay, the high turnover of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I do not have the specific figure for the number of HEPA filters. I will speak to my Department and see if we can get that figure to the Deputy as quickly as possible. This grant scheme was designed specifically to deal with the issue of ventilation. We know that providers were very interested and had been in touch with my Department to see how we could facilitate them. We facilitated...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: We have taken very extensive measures to protect children, and the grant we provided this December is not the first grant. A €5 million outdoor play grant was provided in June of last year, and just short of €30 million was provided for a reopening grant in August 2020, around the time I entered this role, to support the reopening of services following the initial large-scale...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Programmes (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I believe that significant advancements can be made through my Department's co-ordination of the EU child guarantee. It is an important initiative which 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 by March of this year. The commitments under the guarantee...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Programmes (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes, very much so. The child guarantee will be one piece and will sit within the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, BOBF, successor strategy. The child guarantee is focused on children in need. That is the term used in the EU provision, which refers to the delivery of free childcare, free education and free healthcare to children in need. Obviously, that very much encompasses the groups...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In December of last year, I announced a €10 million grant programme to improve ventilation and reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in early learning and childcare settings. This provided services with grants ranging from €1,500 to €4,500. The rental or purchase of HEPA filters is among the items of eligible expenditure under this grant programme and guidance has been...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy has my commitment to deliver on a better pay scale. I think I have demonstrated that by the €67 million that we are providing specifically for that in this year's budget. In a full year that will grow to €207 million. That is a firm commitment. The Deputy also has my commitment to develop the profession. That is demonstrated through the workforce development plan...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. The expert group reported in December. We are now implementing its findings. The first part of that is the substantial additional allocation of funding this year of €69 million. That is the first step towards that, but there are other elements in terms of introducing a DEIS-type model for childcare and broadening out the national childcare scheme, NCS. We took a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am aware that this matter is one of importance to the Deputy and to other Members of the House who have also raised questions about refuge provision in counties Cavan and Monaghan with me and my predecessors. I know there is strong interest locally. I have recently received correspondence from Cavan County Council in this regard. The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: There is absolutely no doubt that we do not have enough refuge spaces in this country. No one disputes that fact. That is why the accommodation review was undertaken to outline where the gaps are and where the lack of coverage and availability of spaces is most acute. It was undertaken to identify the areas where there are communities, families, primarily women, fleeing abusive situations,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The significant change that is being made in moving the responsibility for refuges and other services to the Department of Justice is one advocacy groups and the NGOs working in the sector have been calling for for a long time. We ran this audit and it became clear that this was the call from the sector. We are implementing that now. That is important. Even though responsibility in this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am very much aware of the National Advisory Council for Children and Young People's position paper on child poverty, which I published on my Department's website last week, along with the final Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures annual report and updated indicator set. I had excellent engagement with the advisory council on the issue, and I met with them in December specifically on the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is always very important that we would address the issue of child poverty in this House. With regard to the specific elements of food poverty, the Deputy will be aware that in last year's budget and this year's, the free school meals programme was broadened. This is probably the most practical step we can take to provide immediate sustenance to young children and to support their...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The joined-up element is very important. The successor strategy to the Better Outcomes, Better Futures will have a significant child poverty focus within it. As a subset of this we will also have the EU child guarantee, which is guidance, support and some financial support coming from the European Union. The child guarantee and the actions we will take there will sit within the wider...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I firmly believe, like the Deputy, that the rate of pay in the sector should reflect the value of the work that early-years educators and school-age childcare practitioners do for children, for families, for society and the economy. The most recent available data, from the annual early years sector profile survey, indicates that the average hourly wage in the sector in 2021 was...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 125 and 195 together. Under the new model set out in the White Paper to End Direct Provision, all accommodation in reception and integration centres will be own-door for families and own-room for single people. In addition, applicants for international protection will move to accommodation in the community after four months where single persons will be in own...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The issue of childcare fees for parents is one that I and the Government are committed to tackling. Significant Government support provided to the Early Years sector throughout the pandemic has, in addition to providing essential stability and sustainability, has also helped ensure that fee increases have been kept to near zero over this period. The most recent data available shows that on...