Results 9,541-9,560 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: While my Department does not provide any specific funding for sensory rooms or SNA supports, a wide range of supports is available through the access and inclusion model, AIM, to support children with disabilities to access and fully participate in the universal preschool programme, ECCE. The allocation of targeted AIM supports is based on the needs of the child and the context of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am concerned to hear about any individual provider proposing to increase charges to parents at a time when the Government continues to support early learning and childcare to a significant extent. In view of the amount of State support, increases of this nature are just not justified at this time. One of my key priorities is to achieve...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Affordable and high-quality childcare is an absolute priority for me and my Department. We have gone to great lengths throughout the pandemic to keep services open across the country. In the lockdown in January, we kept services open for the most vulnerable children and the children of essential workers. We also made it clear that we will be increasing the level of investment in childcare...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I absolutely accept that parents are struggling with the cost of childcare, and that is why my commitment is to ensure the additional State investment in childcare is tied to conditions, including reductions in fees. The Deputy spoke about the lack of regulation. She is correct about fees but it is important to state the quality of childcare is significantly regulated by Tusla. The system...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Youth Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot overstate the significance and value of the contributions made by volunteers to the community life of our country and to supporting our most vulnerable. In the youth sector, the work of some 40,000 volunteers was key to maintaining the ability of youth work organisations to function effectively prior to the pandemic. I provided an increase of €5 million in funding for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am aware of the complaint and of the concerns raised. I am strongly committed to supporting all children to develop to their full potential, especially those who are most disadvantaged. There will always be some debate about how best to do this, but I do not believe that the national childcare scheme, NCS, discriminates in the way that is stated. The NCS represents the first ever...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is right. We discussed this matter previously and I put in place a number of short-term measures to deal with some of the some of the issues around the NCS, particularly the issue of sponsorship, which will come up later today. When I began as Minister there were perhaps 30 children sponsored across the country, now it is 1,900 so there has been a very significant increase in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy's point about school-age childcare is well made. I recognise that there is a specific issue there in how the NCS has operated in the context of existing provision of school-age childcare. There are two reviews. The first is the review of the first year of the implementation of the NCS. We expect that to be completed in the final quarter of this year and the information to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Registration of Births (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am committed to addressing the distressing situation of those affected by the St. Patrick’s Guild Illegal Birth Registrations. In February, I established an Interdepartmental Group to develop a set of integrated proposals that would address the issues arising for these individuals.They span a range of areas including, in particular, birth registration, identity, parentage and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare scheme launched in November 2019, marking the first ever statutory entitlement to financial support for early learning and childcare in Ireland. To date, over 105,200 applications have been submitted for the NCS relating to over 99,400 children. There are currently 911 community services contracted to provide the NCS, out of a total of just over 1,200 community...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department administers an annual capital funding programme for early learning and childcare services. The exact objective of the funding is determined on an annual basis, having regard to the needs of children, families and providers and to the Government’s priorities. In recent years, a key objective of the annual capital programme has been to expand capacity in early learning...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I understand the Deputy has clarified that this extended remit of the Department of Education relates to the educational welfare services in Tusla having a sponsor role under the National Childcare Scheme. The Scheme is under review at present, and this provides us with an opportunity to consider any possible changes to sponsorship arrangements. The National Childcare Scheme represents the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I welcome the Deputy’s question as I am committed to listening to young people and understanding all aspects of their lives, particularly at present in relation to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The importance of supporting young people through this crisis and beyond is also reflected in the additional €5 million funding I secured for youth services in the last budget....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: ECCE is a two-year pre-school programme available to all children. The programme runs from September to June each year. ECCE is not mandatory, but participation rates are very high, with 95% of children in the eligible age range attending. Pobal administers the ECCE programme on behalf of my Department, and they have informed me that there are 880 services providing the ECCE Programme in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Cybersecurity Policy (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the cyber attack I have spoken on a very regular basis with the Chief Executive Officer of Tusla, Bernard Gloster. I have had a lengthy engagement wth the Chair of the Board, Pat Rabbitte. I have not had a separate meeting with the entire Board of Tusla on this matter because I am satisfied that it is being handled appropriately in other ways. My most recent meeting with the Board...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: United Nations (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department is designated as Ireland’s Focal Point and Coordination Mechanism under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and is responsible for the drafting of Ireland’s Initial State report on the implementation of the Convention. Drafting of the State Report is ongoing. On the 3 December 2020, I published a draft version of the Initial...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Legislative Process (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am committed to commencing the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act by June 2022, and I do not envisage a delay to that date at this point. The Government made a commitment in the Programme for Government to commencing the Act, recognising the importance of the much needed reform it represents. The Act is a very important piece of legislation that changes the existing law on capacity...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Cybersecurity Policy (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I want to start by acknowledging that the past weeks have been significantly challenging for the Agency and all its committed staff, particularly coming as it does following on from the crisis associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. I have absolute faith in the abilities of the crisis management team chaired by CEO, the technical incident room chaired by Director of ICT and the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 42 together. A Vulnerability Assessment process is currently being piloted by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) of my Department. The pilot commenced in December 2020 and was extended to all new applicants for international protection from the beginning of February. The pilot will continue until end 2021, at which point it will...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Cybersecurity Policy (27 May 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: On Tuesday 25th May I attending a briefing session with the National Cyber Security Centre in respect of the recent ransom ware attacks. I have also been attending a daily Ministerial meeting on the matter. ICT services are provided to my Department by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO). The provision of ICT security is part of that service. My officials are...