Results 10,741-10,760 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department does not have information on the number of children attending school aged childcare as childcare providers are not required to provide data on the number of children who attend early learning and care or school aged childcare on a private fee paying basis. My Department does have data on the number of school aged children attending after school services who are receiving...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of DSGBV. In 2020, I provided €25.3m to Tusla in core funding for DSGBV services. This supports some 60 organisations around the country. I am also providing additional resources to Tusla to support these services to cope with the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Services (3 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The specific pay and conditions of staff in domestic violence and abuse services has not been raised with me. Tusla supports some 60 domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) organisations in the provision of front line services throughout the country. Funded service providers operate independently of Tusla and are responsible for the recruitment of employees and the terms and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The minimum qualification requirement for early learning and care services came into effect on 31 December 2016, as stated in the Child Care Act (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016. These regulations stipulate that all staff working directly with children must hold a minimum of a Level 5 Major Award in Early Childhood Care and Education on the National Framework of Qualifications or a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Traveller-Roma Integration Strategy (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government's National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS) 2017 – 2021 represents a whole of Government approach to bring about meaningful change and progress for the Traveller and Roma community in Ireland. It brings Government Departments and Agencies together along with representatives of both Traveller and Roma communities to focus in a structured way on issues...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: City and County Child Care Committees (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 110 together. Officials of my Department are currently reviewing the Workplace Relations Commission's consideration of the pay rates of the managers of the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs). The CCCs are one of the key support mechanisms of my Department, and I want to acknowledge the important role they play in providing vital...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department has not bought or leased any housing in the area referred to by the Deputy. I can also tell the Deputy that there no plans or discussions to do so. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The number of early learning services contracted to provide the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) programme per year since 2017 is as follows: Programme Year Total Services 2017/20184248 2018/20194269 2019/20204261 For the current programme year, 2020-2021 3,966 services have contracted up to November 30th and this number will likely increase as new services open throughout...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Childcare Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Sponsorship arrangement within the NCS to which the Deputy refers offers additional supports for families with complex needs. The need for a referral is a determination that the Sponsor Body must make based on the particular need of the child in line with the defined criteria of the NCS sponsorship programme. Once a child meets the criteria for sponsorship by a given Sponsor Body, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. It includes 7 levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted. The degree of support provided depends on the needs of the child in the context of the pre-school setting they are...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 104 together. I am committed to strong and ongoing engagement with former residents of Mother and Baby Institutions and their advocates. The Collaborative Forum process, established by my predecessor as a representative advisory body on issues of priority for former residents, their families and supporters, was unfortunately interrupted by the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Childcare Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme launched in November 2019. It represents the first statutory entitlement to supports for childcare costs in Ireland. 2,938 childcare providers are contracted to provide the NCS in their service. The introduction of the NCS removed the administrative burden from childcare providers of applying for childcare supports on a parent’s behalf. Parents now...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Childcare Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: There are a number of subsidy rates available under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). The rate to which the Deputy refers is the maximum subsidy rate available for school age children. Higher subsidies are available for younger children, to reflect the higher cost of providing childcare for them because of the higher adult-child ratios required by Regulations. Subsidies range from...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department has, in the past, provided limited subsidies to cover part of the cost of transport from school to after school childcare. These subsidies were available to qualifying children on the Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programme. The TEC programme closed to new applicants in February 2020. Children receiving subsidies under the TEC programme may remain on TEC until...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Services (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) is a cross Departmental and multi-agency issue. Policy is coordinated by the Department of Justice and Equality (DJE). Under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of DSGBV. I have asked Tusla to respond directly on...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Data Protection (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The recommendations from the Clann project that I received on 23 November 2020 are very extensive. They span several major areas, including detailed proposals on information and tracing legislation, proposals to amend legislation under the remit of other Government Departments, and proposals in relation to the administrative structures of the office of the Data Protection Commissioner. To the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, supports over 90% of children in state care by placing them with foster carers. Tusla is recruiting foster carers, on an ongoing basis, to meet the need for placements for children who need emergency, respite and long term care in a family setting. In October of this year Tusla completed an annual national campaign aimed at raising awareness and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy will appreciated, I have no direct role in operational matters for Tusla. I have however referred the Deputy's question to Tusla for a direct reply.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Direct Provision System (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy may be aware that I announced last week that a new accommodation centre will open in Letterkenny in January 2021. The accommodation consists of 60 apartments of 2 and 3 bedroom self-contained units, enabling residents moving to them to have own door accommodation. The accommodation centre will initially become home for families who have been identified to move from existing...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (2 Dec 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters submitted its final report to me on the 30th October 2020. I had signalled previously that there would be a short time interval between receipt of the report and the separate arrangements for its publication. The necessary considerations are being expedited to enable this to happen as soon as possible. It...