Results 10,621-10,640 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Tusla ABC Programme within Tusla's Partnership Participation and Family Support is an area based Prevention and Early Intervention initiative currently being delivered across 12 sites of urban disadvantage, including one in Clondalkin where the Blue Skies programme is situated. Discussions continue to take place across the ABC programme to explore the potential scaling of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am committed to ongoing engagement with former residents of Mother and Baby Institutions and their advocates. As an important first step in meeting this commitment, I have personally spoken to a number of former residents and advocates in this area over recent weeks, including a majority of the Collaborative Forum. In addition, I have read and responded to the views of many...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy may be aware, on 10 December 2019, the then Government approved the drafting of a Bill along the lines of the General Scheme of the Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill 2019. The General Scheme provides for: - creation of a statutory basis for exhumation of remains, located at former institutional sites which reach a defined set of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In December 2019, the then Government approved the drafting of a Bill along the lines of the General Scheme of the Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill 2019. It was then referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee (JOC) on Children and Youth Affairs for pre-legislative scrutiny and, in parallel, to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) to be drafted as a Bill...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme, was established by the then Department of Social and Family Affairs in 1994. It later transferred to the Family Support Agency, which became part of Tusla on its establishment in 2014. Tusla administers the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme, and Tusla funding supports 121 FRCs across the country. Core funding allocations for the FRC Programme,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme in mainstream pre-school settings. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every child, including those with additional needs,  can...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Premises are sourced either through a full tender process which is administered through the Government’s Procurement Portal www.etenders.gov.ie or through responses to calls for expressions of interest, which are advertised in the national media. My Department is assisted with these tender projects by the Office of Government Procurement. The tender process which commenced in late...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department currently has contracts in place for 48 accommodation centres, including management contracts for 6 State owned centres.  The 48 centres comprise 45  accommodation centres for International Protection applicants, the National Reception Centre for International Protection applicants in Balseskin, Co. Dublin and 3 Emergency Reception and Orientation...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My officials are compiling copies of the correspondence referred to by the Deputy to be forwarded to the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme in mainstream pre-school settings. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every child, including those with language delays,  can meaningfully...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year.  A child must have reached 2 years and 8 months of age on or prior to 31 August of the relevant programme year to be eligible for the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Staff (8 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 sets out the legal obligations of public service bodies to meet a target of 3% of employees with disabilities. Under the Act, the National Disability Authority (NDA) has the statutory role to report, on an annual basis, on compliance with the 3% target.  The Disability Act 2005 defines disability as follows: “Disability, in relation to a person,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Costs (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are currently providing a €638 million investment in childcare. With that money, we have three core aims, which are affordability for parents; quality for the children in these services, which means ensuring that childcare professionals are well paid so that they continue to enhance and grow the care they are providing; and keeping services sustainable. When we see the amount of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Costs (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: One of the disadvantages of the system, which is a privately driven system, is that where there is a gap in provision in a geographic area, unlike in a primary or secondary school where the State steps in and sources a site, the State does not have the capacity to do that right now. It is about putting in place a funding model that supports new services and some of the organisational...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Where a person or a family are in temporary emergency accommodation, the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, endeavours to move them to more suitable permanent accommodation in the shortest time possible, notwithstanding pressures on the IPAS accommodation portfolio. It is IPAS's policy to prioritise the movement of family units from emergency accommodation when suitable...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am aware of the case and I am grateful to Deputy Matthews for drawing it to my attention. It was a situation where there was a good story, with a family being moved from emergency accommodation in a hotel to own-door accommodation in another location, but they did not fully understand the positive nature of the move because of the lack of translation. I am aware of that and understand...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I would be aware of the huge amount of work GOSHH does in the mid-west. It combines a range of services that add a community element to those vital health-based supports. GOSHH submitted an application under the funding call and I am pleased to be able to say that it received funding for its rainbow development project of €75,500. It is a significant investment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. As we celebrated World AIDS Day on the first day of this month it is an important time to raise the need for this very important health service to be reopened. It was an issue that was discussed at the steering group of the national LGBTI+ strategy, of which I am a member. A number of representatives in the group raised their concerns about the continued closure of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Costs (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 98 together. Among the range of commitments in the programme for Government, addressing affordability in early learning and childcare is a priority for me. I am confident that work under way through First 5, including the national childcare scheme, NCS, and new funding model, will deliver on that. Annual investment in early learning and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: For either the extra three weeks leave for parents who had their child during the last year, or the full five weeks leave for new parents of children going forward, that can only be taken once the legislation is passed. We have to get the legislation passed first. However, once the legislation is passed, if a parent took their two weeks of original parents leave in January of this year,...