Results 8,321-8,340 of 11,997 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. The ability for the decision support service to be up and running in June is partly reliant on the committee and its good work in terms of getting pre-legislative scrutiny done quickly. I appreciate its support in that regard. I am absolutely committed to getting it up and running for June. The Deputy cited the 2021 figure for 2022. We have significantly increased...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: With regard to the allocation for actions under the institutional burials Bill, that legislation is clear in setting up a format of how to identify an area that will be subject to an agency created under the Bill to undertake the recovery and identification of remains. It is accepted by everybody that Tuam will be the first site where such an agency will investigate and the budget exists to...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. On the medical card, the key issue with the enhanced medical card we will provide to 19,000 former residents is that it requires a legislative basis. That has been the case in terms of survivors of the Magdalen institutions and survivors of the industrial schools as well. We need a legislative basis for the provision of a large volume of medical cards. That is why we...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: No, Chairman. I thank the Deputies for their questions. I also thank my officials for the support in terms of the briefing material.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Under the current allocation, I do not have a budgetary line for interim payments right now. I will still continue to work with the committee and Deputies as we bring this legislation through.

European Union Regulation: Motion (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. To respond to Deputy Connolly on the breakdown, under the 2014-2020 scheme, Ireland had €55.5 million allocated. I have to hand a copy of the percentages for each of the areas. A total of 30% of the national allocation was spent on asylum, 32% on integration, 22% on return, 5.8% on solidarity and 10% on technical assistance. Under...

European Union Regulation: Motion (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to accept the following measure: Regulation (EU) 2021/1147 of...

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

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes, happily.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I fully agree with the Deputy. As she knows, responsibility is moving out of my Department and will be fully a matter for the Minister for Justice in the coming months. With regard to the ongoing focus, we need to increase the number of refugee places. There is no doubt that a refuge is vital in addressing emergency needs when a woman or family is fleeing a life-or-death situation....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The additional €2 million, bringing the budget from €28 million to €30 million, will be distributed across the services. That will allow the services to invest in more resources. A lot of flexibility is given to services in determining what they need in their area. I hope that will allow for additional resources for therapies such as play therapy, which I agree are...

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

Roderic O'Gorman: I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. National disability policy transferred to our Department in October 2020 from the Department of Justice and Equality, and this includes co-ordinating two national disability strategies, namely, the national disability inclusion strategy and the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities. My...

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

Roderic O'Gorman: With the help of Deputy Funchion and her committee, the assisted decision-making legislation is being subjected to pre-legislative scrutiny. I have no doubt that it will be scrutinised swiftly, after which we can bring it through the House. We need it for June of this year. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are committed to that. Working with the committee, we seek to do that....

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

Roderic O'Gorman: That integrated approach, involving looking at persons with a disability not through a medical lens but through a whole-of-services lens, is exactly what the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are hoping to achieve. Responsibility for mental health services will not be transferred. Child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, and the like will remain with the Department of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As of 30 January, there were 8,582 people accommodated in the direct provision system as a whole. This includes 5,828 persons in international protection accommodation services, IPAS, centres, 1,065 in emergency accommodation centres, 396 in the national reception centre in Balseskin, 323 in quarantine facilities and 970 in pre-reception facilities. Within direct provision centres and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: That is a lot to get through in one minute. The Deputy is correct, in that there has been a significant increase in the number of people coming to Ireland seeking international protection, particularly since the October-November period. That increase is reflected in the figures that I set out. I will ask my Department to send the Deputy the specific figure for how many people have been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes. The Minister's scheme is primarily for people who are undocumented but it has a secondary stream for people who have been in direct provision for a long time. They will be able to apply for regularisation. Obviously, 2,800 is approximately a quarter of 8,500 or thereabouts, but the scheme will address the needs of a significant number of people who, as the Deputy identified, have been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for highlighting the importance of the community sponsorship scheme. To clarify, it is available to people who have already been identified as refugees under the Irish refugee protection programme, not people coming in through direct provision. Over the past seven months, the scheme has been particularly important to Ireland's rapid response to the situation in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, Tusla has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of DSGBV. Tusla is funded from my Department's Vote 40. At the end of 2021, Tusla funded 155 DSGBV-related accommodation units. These consisted of 137 refuge units and 18 safe houses. There were also six other available accommodation units. Tusla has previously advised...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (3 Feb 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for recognising the excellence across the early years professional sector. That excellence is always demonstrated, but was particularly apparent during the Covid pandemic. She rightly identified that far too many early years professionals are seeking to leave the sector and that is primarily due to the issue of pay. There have already been three or four questions today...