Results 10,941-10,960 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Deputy Hourigan makes an important point on output legitimacy in these strategies. It is one that we are noticing in all the equality strategies. I will chair four other equality strategy bodies, while the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, chairs this one. The European disability strategy ends in either 2020 or 2021 and the national disability inclusion strategy ends in 2021. We may...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the optional protocol, the ratification of the convention is a step of great importance and we are already seeing the ripple effects of that in the context of creating the network of decision support services, which is all as a consequence of that. The benefit of the optional protocol would be to allow individual persons with a disability to petition the UN committee and to allow the UN...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is correct about the importance of being able to trace where the money is being spent. We hope that removing the €2 billion disability budget from the Department of Health and bringing it into the new Department will strongly enhance traceability. It is still a significant sum, but taking it out of the existing €90 million budget will enhance the ability of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act, the key is to get the decision support service in place. That is the blockage at the moment. Members will have seen that the budget provided a substantial additional funding in that regard. An extra €2 million was provided for next year, bringing the total funding to €5.8 million. The key thing we need to do is to provide for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As regards the optional protocol, I have set out a clear pathway towards when we will do that. I cannot give an explicit date today, but we want to see the first cycle of our membership of the convention go through first. Once the UN committee responds to our State report, there might be a need to do other pieces of work or a requirement for other legislative measures which it identifies in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: With regard to the transition, the Senator is right that it should be as smooth and swift as possible while, at the same time, taking the necessary time to undertake such a big restructuring of Departments and of departmental responsibility, which includes the important aspect of relationships with State agencies, particularly the HSE. There will now be a new reporting relationship between...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Senator Higgins. Regarding the optional protocol, once we have submitted the report to the UN committee, I hope to bring back a timetable in my first engagement in the new year with this committee. On legislation, we are looking at a disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill and at bringing a memorandum to the Government early next year for approval to prepare heads of Bill. We...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Parental Leave (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government intends to extend Parent's Leave from two weeks to five weeks for each parent of all children born or adopted on or after 1 Nov 2019. The Government also intends to extend the period in which Parent's Leave can be taken up until that child turns two or, in the case of an adoption, two years after the adoption placement date of the child. This extension will apply to parents who...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Bus Services (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Section 6(3) of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015, allows for the imposition of a compulsory retirement age but it must be objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim must be appropriate and necessary. This aim may be specific to the nature of the work involved and could include health and safety concerns. If an individual has concerns...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Traveller Community (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is committed to improving the quality of life of members of the Traveller and Roma communities. The Government's main tool to progress this goal is the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021. This Strategy represents a whole-of-Government approach to bring about meaningful change and progress for the Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland. It is a...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Parental Leave (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Bill 2019 provides for two weeks of parent’s leave and benefit for all new parents in employment or self-employment in respect of children born or placed for adoption on or after 1 November 2019. This is to facilitate parents to spend more time with their children in their critical first year of life. The Minister for Public Expenditure and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Refugee Resettlement Programme (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established by Government Decision of September 2015 (S.I. 80/20/10/0122H) as a key part of Ireland’s response to the global humanitarian migration crisis. The Government decision committed Ireland to accept 4,000 persons under various strands of the programme, including the EU Relocation Mechanism and UNHCR-led Refugee Resettlement...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) was established in 2016 to support children with disabilities to access and fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) preschool programme, thereby reaping the benefits of quality early years care and education and realising the opportunity to reach their full potential, including their social, emotional, cognitive and language...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Parental Leave (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Bill 2019 provides for two weeks of parent’s leave and benefit for all new parents in employment or self-employment in respect of children born or placed for adoption on or after 1 November 2019. This is to facilitate both parents to spend more time with their children in their critical first year of life. The Minister for Public Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Covid-19 Pandemic (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy may be aware, Tusla Education Support Services (TESS) is responsible for addressing issues in relation to participation, retention and attendance in schools. Under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, schools are obliged to maintain records of students’ attendance and are required to refer cases to TESS when a student misses more than 20 days at school. The next...

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

Roderic O'Gorman: The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) provided €25.3m to Tusla for DSGBV services this year, with an additional €1.2m allocated for additional costs incurred due to COVID-19. Spending on DSGBV services has increased by €4.7m since 2016. In Budget 2021, I prioritised additional resources for Tusla, so that it can meet the needs of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: After-School Support Services (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018, announced in December 2017, came into force on 18th February, 2019. These Regulations enable School Age Childcare (SAC) services to register with Tusla and participate in the National Childcare Scheme. These initial Regulations are limited in scope and intent, providing primarily for the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Maternity Leave (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: To support paretns of children born during the strict lockdown measures, the Government intends to extend parent's leave from two weeks to five weeks for each parent of all children born or adopted on or after 1 Nov 2019. The Government also intends to extend the period in which parent's leave can be taken up until that child turns two or, in the case of an adoption, two years after the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Maternity Leave (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Bill 2019 provides for two weeks of parent’s leave and benefit for all new parents in employment or self-employment in respect of children born or placed for adoption on or after 1 November 2019. This is to facilitate parents to spend more time with their children in their critical first year of life. The Minister for Public Expenditure and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Victim Support Services (3 Nov 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV). In 2020, I am providing core funding of €25.3m to Tusla to support the DSGBV sector, including 16 rape crisis centres throughout the country. In addition to core funding, an additional €1.2 million has been reserved for...