Results 11,021-11,040 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I have not seen the article in detail, but my understanding, including from what has been stated in the Chamber, is that it refers to the 2018 Act and its amendment of section 39 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. That is not what my Bill addresses. Rather, my Bill addresses the transfer of the database from the archive to Tusla. That is an important point. We have all...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will finish.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I need to engage with the Attorney General on the DPC's advice on the application of section 39 of the 2004 Act and the amendment made to same in 2018. This matter is not contained within my Bill, which is still important if we are to maintain the database. This is relevant to the wider issues that we have all agreed need to be addressed in the context of the application of GDPR. I flagged...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: These relate to the matter we discussed in the Seanad last week regarding personal stories. These sets of amendments make provision for that opt-in to redaction, working on the basis of restoring agency to those people who came before the commission. They deliver on that.

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In response to the queries about the issue of delay and the sealing of the archive, I have said that I want to look at the sealing of the archive, particularly in the context of personal information. I am being asked to completely remove the sealing of the archive, which is provided for in the 2004 Act and which comprises the commission's work in the past five years. Everything the three...

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will address the issue of GDPR first, which was raised by Deputies Whitmore, Harkin and others. I have seen the article by Dr. Maeve O'Rourke and other articles have addressed this particular issue as well. My Department has engaged extensively with the Attorney General's office on this issue and the advice we have received, to which the Department is bound, is that the GDPR right of...

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am aware of the real rawness of the issues that we are discussing for the survivors of mother and baby homes. I am also aware that this debate, particularly over the past two weeks, has exacerbated that rawness. That does not sit easily with me. I am bringing forward a Bill today whose purpose is to protect a database created by the commission on mother and baby homes. The commission...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Child Abuse (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator for raising this matter, which is incredibly important and sensitive. I am aware of the specific issue she alluded to, and I have been in correspondence with an individual in that regard. As the Senator knows, our country has in the past failed to protect its children, and that failure weighs heavily on all of us. Abuse is not consigned to the past, though, and it is my...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Child Abuse (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I spent some time speaking about what Tusla is doing to mitigate current risk because that is Tusla's primary role. I am not taking away from anything the Senator said but that is the job of Tusla, namely, to deal with current risk.The role of dealing with historic abuse - "past abuse" is probably a better term in many ways - lies with An Garda Síochána through prosecution. We are...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy will be aware  that while the NCS is an initiative of the DCEDIY, a Scheme Administrator has been engaged to manage the operation of the Scheme on the Department’s behalf. Pobal acts in this capacity as Scheme Administrator, and it is their role to follow up on individual cases. The Department has referred this query to Pobal, who will contact the person (Details...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Parent's Benefit (22 Oct 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: Child and Family Agency (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In the recent budget, I was pleased to be able to secure an increase of €61m for Tusla, bringing the Agency’s total budget allocation for 2021 to €878m.  The Programme for Government commitment to which the Deputy refers is based on a flexible and integrated model of care which aims to support children, young people, families and carers in contact with the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Childcare Scheme (22 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme, which was introduced in 2019, provides supports for school aged childcare.Under the extended NCS hours introduced in September of this year, parents may avail of 45 subsidised childcare hours  when the parents are engaged in work, training or study, and  they may avail of 20 subsidised hours if they are not engaged in work, training or...

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank all the Deputies for their incredibly heartfelt contributions to this debate. The debate starkly demonstrates the sensitivities and complexities around this particular issue. All Deputies have tried to convey the sense they have received from the emails, calls and texts and from the people they know personally. There is a real anxiety around access to information for those who were...

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (21 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Ireland's recent history is sadly littered with a legacy of failings related to the care of our citizens in institutional settings. This is no less true for the mother and baby homes and county homes that operated in this country throughout much of the previous century. Our most fundamental duty today is to acknowledge the profound failures and mistreatment of Irish women and their...

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (21 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Parental Leave (21 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 166, 168 and 195 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Children that are home-schooled, and their parents or guardians, must comply with all of the public health advice and guidance produced by the Government in order to protect their health and well-being and that of other citizens during this pandemic.  There are currently no plans to provide separate or bespoke guidance for this cohort of the population.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Services (21 Oct 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. Tusla provides funding and coordination supports to some 60 organisations that deliver a range of services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence, throughout the country. The table provided below, outlines the overall funding...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (21 Oct 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: In 2015, when the Government decided to establish an inquiry into mother and baby homes, the model of investigation that it chose was a commission of investigation under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. That decision, which was endorsed by the Oireachtas, had indelible consequences for the format of the investigation that was to be conducted, for the mode of engagement with the...