Results 8,301-8,320 of 11,413 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Personal reasons do not explain it. I do not understand the scenario because in the reality of the situation it should not make any difference to the families concerned.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Mr. Gloster referred to there being very few. How many have moved from operating directly with Tusla to a private agency over the past three years?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Tusla gave a number of 13%, which represents 480. That is growing. In 2014, for example, 6% of foster carers were private.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay, but 480 is the number of foster carers. Is that number correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: How does that absolute number of 480 compare with, say, five years ago?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: It is increasing.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Does Tusla plan to review the services that are being provided, even for no other reason than efficiency? We have determined there is an additional cost of €23 million for private care. Does Tusla plan to carry out an efficiency review to ensure those families who are operating directly with Tusla have an improved experience to encourage others to go down that route as opposed to the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I seek clarification on the issue of foster care provided by private companies. Does Tusla have an objective of reducing the reliance on private companies for providing foster care?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Yes. Based on the figures we were given, the reliance on private companies has increased by more than 10% since 2017. If Tusla's objective is to reduce that level of reliance, then it is not achieving its objective.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I accept that, but on the basis of what the witnesses have told me today, I infer that the experience for the child is not different if he or she deals with a foster carer directly appointed by Tusla or with someone who has come through an agency. In terms of financial remuneration, the conditions in which the family operate are the same. The only difference is the additional cost of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I apologise for cutting across Ms Duggan, but I am running out of time and there is a further question I want to ask. Will the witnesses outline the role of Tusla in monitoring the private companies' work? How does Tusla ensure that they are doing everything according to the same rules, regulations and standards as apply to Tusla's own carers? Can the witnesses quantify the cost of that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency - Financial Statements 2020 (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I presume that Tusla has some mechanism in place to monitor the companies and how they are operating.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Notwithstanding the point made by Deputy Burke, I am just becoming aware of this issue. Deputy Buckley raised it with me in recent days. The report we have here is quite concerning. It appears to me the problem is as a result of a historical lack of investment. Time and again we see services are depleted to such an extent that the HSE then tells us they must be removed because they are in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Organic Farming (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank the Minister of State. The EU average was 7.5% about three years ago. Across the board, the EU has set a target of 25%. We are second to last, coming only ahead of Malta with regard to land under organic use. The question I posed was very specific. It was on the number of new organic farmers. While the amount of land under organic use is important, and the Minister of State's...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Organic Farming (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: 3. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the projected number of new organic farmers for 2022; the additional funding that will be allocated to the organic farming scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50848/21]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Organic Farming (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I ask the Minister of State the number of new farmers that she expects to join the organic farming scheme in 2022; the additional funding that will be allocated to the scheme; and her proposals for the sector.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Organic Farming (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: For the sake of clarity, I ask the Minister of State to outline what the current organic land area is and what proportion she expects that to reach by the end of 2022. I gather from her reply that the target remains 7.5% by 2030. That is absolutely pathetic. One of the reasons for the lack of ambition is apparent in the Minister of State's comment that she wants to align the organic...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: 1. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the new measures included in budget 2022 for suckler beef farmers, sheep farmers and farmers in areas of natural constraint. [50847/21]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I ask the Minister to outline the new measures in budget 2022 for suckler beef farmers, sheep farmers and farmers operating in areas of natural constraint.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (21 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank the Minister. That was a long way of answering "There are none" to the question I asked him regarding new measures. Of course, the Minister can apply to implement new Exchequer-funded schemes next year. There is nothing stopping him from doing so. In the context of the CAP proposals he brought forward yesterday, and specifically in respect of the sectors to which I refer, will...