Results 9,361-9,380 of 11,908 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Direct Provision System (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I welcomed the report of the Ombudsman for Children and accepted its recommendations in full. I received the report soon after responsibility for the international protection accommodation service, IPAS, was transferred to my Department. Its content makes for difficult reading. IPAS has embarked upon a series of actions, planned for the short and medium term, that will build upon existing...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Direct Provision System (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The ombudsman is absolutely right to highlight the inappropriateness of the direct provision system to deal with the needs of anybody, particularly those of children. That is why we brought forward the White Paper proposing to end direct provision and replace it with a new international protection support service, with all the wrap-around supports it entails. As the Deputy notes, this will...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Direct Provision System (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will give the Deputy some further information on what is happening in this area. Additional child safety training will be rolled out to all centre managers during 2021, as soon as the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. The child safeguarding statements will be translated into all relevant languages across all centres, which will enable people to understand them immediately. In terms of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Direct Provision System (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy has asked two quite broad questions and I will do my best to cover them. First, I have always stated my view that the current system of provision of accommodation for people in international protection is not fit for purpose. That is why we are replacing it and we have set out how we are going to do that in the White Paper. We are ending direct provision. In designing the White...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I fully agree with the Deputy. I am pleased we are in the position to start the process of giving that very justified recognition. As the Deputy says, praise is all well and good but we all accept that financial recognition is well deserved. A number of processes are coming together, including the JLC process I have established, the expert group on the funding model that the former...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The deadline for responses to the income and costs survey and the annual early years sector profile survey was 30 June. This date was extended from the original deadline in response to requests from providers, and in order to facilitate improved response rates. A significant amount of data has been collected through both surveys. These data will now be prepared for analysis. This involves...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I take the Deputy's point on the gendered nature of the workforce. We passed the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill in Seanad Éireann last night. That Bill constitutes a significant step forward. It will provide us with the raw data about something we know already, namely, the fact that women do not receive the same pay as men for work of the same value. We need to address that as a...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: We discussed our investment in childcare last year. The budget line that comes directly from my Department did not change. We have had enormous investment into the early years sector, however, initially in the specific scheme designed for that sector and, since November of last year, in the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS. We have had millions every month going into the childcare...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy made a point about childminders. The Government is advancing plans to allow childminders to be paid through the national childcare scheme. The subvention that many parents get for centre-based childcare will also be available to childminders following registration. That was discussed at the Oireachtas joint committee earlier today. That is an important step forward. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: No provider should be increasing fees at this time because the State is providing a great deal of support, offering the employment wage subsidy scheme at the upper rate to all childcare providers across the country regardless of the turnover rule. That is a decision we made and I know the vast majority of childcare providers really welcomed that additional support and have acted fairly. No...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. In answering this question, I will expand on what I said to Deputy Tully a moment ago. I am very conscious of the need for a significant improvement in pay and working conditions for staff in the early learning and childcare sector. The level of pay they receive does not reflect the value of the work they do for children, for families and for wider society and the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. It is good that we have been able to make this significant progress, particularly after a year in which childcare professionals have bravely and consistently stood up across the country, particularly in January when so many others were not working. It is a fairly intricate process. The order to establish the joint labour committee, JLC, has been laid before the Houses...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy will know, it is early learning and care, with the emphasis on the early learning. On the review, I would expect it in the last quarter of the year. The review of the Child Care Act 1991 and, as significant, the report of the expert group are expected in the final quarter of this year. This is something I have been speaking about a great deal, although I did not initiate it....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I have reflected deeply on many aspects of the commission's report since its publication and the survivors' response to it. I understand that some survivors are disappointed with how their personal testimonies were reported. People expected to see their full narrative as they told it, rather than abbreviated sections. It has become apparent that many did not know that...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I agree with the Deputy in terms of the bravery of the 500 individuals who appeared before the confidential committee to give their personal accounts of their experiences in these institutions. I have always said that that chapter and the extracts from their stories have had a huge impact on me, but I am aware that they are just extracts. I know from my engagement with survivors that they...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am absolutely committed to providing a comprehensive redress scheme. When the parameters of the interdepartmental group were being established, the Government made clear that we would not be bound solely by the recommendations contained with the commission's report. That is an important step. It allows us-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: It allows us to go past the commission's report and to publish a scheme of redress that is comprehensive. I have always said it should recognise the time spent within these institutions, across both the mother and baby institutions and the county institutions. That is what the Government has committed to do and that is what we will deliver. I accept that we are a little behind in terms of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. Officials in my Department closely monitor developments in relation to early learning and childcare capacity, including the supply of and demand for places. Before the onset of Covid-19, data gathered through the annual early years sector profile survey revealed that the sector was running at near capacity, with evidence of undersupply for certain cohorts, including...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Some of these matters fall within the remit of the Department of Health. The drafting of a Bill on assisted human reproduction and associated research was based on the published general scheme of the assisted human reproduction Bill, which was published in the previous Dáil. Work on the Bill, including drafting, is ongoing by officials in the Department of Health. There is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: This issue extends across a number of Departments. The three Ministers are working together and meeting regularly, which is important. We hope to meet again in the near future to continue our discussions. We are getting support from the Attorney General on the issue. I have met some of the groups and there is an alliance formed in this particular area. It is important that provision is...