Results 8,521-8,540 of 11,729 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is committed to advancing the legislation that is required to support intervention at the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam. The General Scheme of a Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill was developed to provide the required legal basis for exhumation, identification and dignified reburial of the infants at the Tuam site and other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Good afternoon, Vice Chairman. I really appreciate the invitation from the committee to attend and discuss this really important matter. I am joined by my colleagues in the Department, Ms Carol Baxter and Ms Janet Lacey. I know many people on this committee have been engaging in working to support the Traveller and Roma communities over many years. We can all agree that the Traveller and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I completely agree with the wider points the Deputy made on things not happening fast enough. We are seeing high-level changes in policy, such as recognition of Traveller ethnicity. We are seeing changes in that NTRIS is being introduced and adopted as an all-of-Government strategy, but we are not seeing enough substantive changes on sites and in people's lives throughout the country. One...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I recognise the significant work he did in this area during his term of office. On the 149 actions under the NTRIS, only two have not been started. Therefore, there have been significant advances. All the others have been commenced. I just do not have the figure for how many are fully concluded but I will write to the committee after this meeting to give a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy has rightly highlighted that accommodation is central to resolving this issue and is one of the most pressing issues. Accommodation, health, particularly mental health, and education are the probably the issues that come up most regularly and most strongly within NTRIS, with NTRIS committee meetings and with my own engagement with individual groups as well. Deputy Ellis spoke...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The review I spoke about that will be completed in June 2022 is a review of the effectiveness of three of our current equality strategies - NTRIS, the national strategy for women and girls and the migrant integration strategy. It is to look at where they have been successful, what parts of them have not succeeded and the issues of intersectionality and how the three equality strategies can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is absolutely essential that we measure from the ground up. I and, more important, the groups representing the Traveller and Roma communities, believe that the approach adopted has been too focused on inputs, as the Deputy said. There have been many inputs to Traveller and Roma policy in recent years. That represents an amount of progress from a time when this entire area was completely...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Review of Traveller Inclusion Policy, Education and Health: Discussion (18 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Chair and members for their engagement. Deputies Joan Collins and Ellis made a point about the importance of accommodation when addressing stability and security for Traveller families all over the country, living in low quality accommodation, whether social or private housing. It creates significant instability for them and their children and impacts on all other elements of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Measures (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 lapsed with the dissolution of the last Dáil. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill is being used to advance a number of legislative provisions required by the UNCRPD that were previously included in the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016, including measures to double the percentage of people with...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Domestic Violence (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) is a cross Departmental and multi-agency issue. Overall policy is coordinated by the Department of Justice. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of DSGBV under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. Capital funding for approved housing bodies, including services...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Domestic Violence (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I appreciate the Deputy's concern in relation to this issue and I am aware that she has engaged with my Department on this matter on numerous occasions. I am informed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that supports for victims of Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV) in counties Cavan and Monaghan are available through the services of Tearmann, which is based in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Protection (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Review Panel (NRP) undertakes reviews of the deaths or significant incidents of children who are known to Child Protection Services, are in care or are young adults who were in care. Each case represents a tragedy, whether the death was anticipated or unexpected and leaves behind families, foster carers and staff who grieve for the child or young adult. Since 2010, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Poverty (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Department of Social Protection has lead policy responsibility for child poverty, and works in close collaboration with other relevant government departments on addressing this issue. The Department of Social Protection is currently looking at developing a new child poverty target under its Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020 - 2025. My Department is actively engaged in efforts in this...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The General Scheme of a Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill, which was approved and published in December 2019, was designed to provide the required legal basis for exhumation, identification and dignified reburial of the infants at the Tuam site and other locations should similar circumstances come to light. The Bill underwent Pre-Legislative Scrutiny in the first...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Inquiries (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Responsibility for the operation of wardship is not a matter for this Department but rather for the courts. Management of the courts, operational matters and logistical functions are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and under the separation of powers doctrine set out in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Measures (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is a very important piece of legislation that changes the existing law on capacity from the status approach of the wardship system to a flexible functional approach, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time-specific basis. It will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Measures (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is a very important piece of legislation that changes the existing law on capacity from the status approach of the wardship system to a flexible functional approach, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time-specific basis. It will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Equality Issues (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is committed to improving the employment opportunities for all people with disabilities. There is a dedicated cross-government strategy, the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES), to address these barriers and to drive progress in this area. There are six strategic priorities in the CES (i) to build skills, capacity and independence, (ii) to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Equality Issues (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities 2015-2024 (CES), a cross-government strategy to address the barriers and challenges to employment for people with disabilities, a public awareness campaign has been planned to raise awareness among employers of the benefits of employing people with disabilities. This campaign had been due to take place in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Equality Issues (17 Nov 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy is aware, the Employment Equality Acts prohibit discrimination, including in relation to disability, and require organisations to make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities in employment. I have launched a review of the equality legislation, which will be completed next year. The review will consider whether or not the equality legislation is effectively...