Results 11,301-11,320 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is referring to an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have therefore referred the matter to Tusla, and asked that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Investigations (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: Thank you for raising this issue. Over the past number of years, there have been examples of organisations not upholding high standards of child protection in Ireland. In response to such situations, a number of policy and legislative improvements have been made to child protection standards over recent years. In particular, the Children First Act 2015, which was fully commenced in 2017,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Data (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is referring to an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have therefore referred the matter to Tusla, and asked that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Data (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I understand from clarification sought by my officials, that the Deputy's question relates specifically to Tusla and not in relation to other State bodies under my remit or the HSE. The commissioning of non-residential services is an operational matter for Tusla. I have requested Tusla to respond directly to the Deputy regarding the information sought. The Deputy may also be interested in...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy is referring to an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have therefore referred the matter to Tusla, and asked that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 624 to 627, inclusive, 630, 632, 633 and 635 together. Many of the matters raised by the Deputy are being considered by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. The Commission is due to submit its final report to me next month and its remit includes investigating the entry and exit pathways for mothers and their children through certain...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 628, 629, 631 and 634 together. The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was established by Government to investigate the significant concerns related to the institutional care of unmarried mothers and their babies during the period 1922 to 1998. The Commission is tasked with providing a full account of what happened to vulnerable women...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Ministerial Advisers (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the commencement of every Dáil, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform issues guidelines setting out the arrangements for the staffing of Ministerial Offices. It should be notedthat the appointment of individual Special Advisers is a matter for each Government Minister subject to the terms set out in the aforementioned guidelines, although the appointments are also subject...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I acknowledge that many early learning and care and school-age childcare services are reporting staffing and recruitment challenges, with increased pressures as a result of Covid-19. There is no official data on the extent of such shortages. However, officials in my Department have been actively monitoring the issue and have sought data and evidence-based proposals from sectoral...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The correspondence referred to by the Deputy has been received by my Department and a response will issue shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 639, 647 and 651 together. As the Deputy will know, the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 has lapsed and I am currently considering the complex matters involved before deciding on how best to legislate in this important area. In that context, I am aware of the Report of the Collaborative Forum and the views expressed regarding Tusla being tasked...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The rationale for specifying Tusla as the recipient of the database is that the Agency already has statutory responsibility for adoption tracing services under the Adoption Act 2010. In addition, it currently holds the originals of many of the relevant institutional records. As such, the database will provide the agency with an organised, digital system for the records it already holds,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the subject matter of the Deputy's question relates to an operational matter for Tusla, I have referred the matter to them for a direct reply.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Data (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The details supplied by the Deputy include an article which refers to correspondence with the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. In accordance with section 9 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes is independent in the performance of its functions. It must operate within its terms of reference and the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Data Protection (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 643 to 645, inclusive, together. These questions relate to specific provisions of the GDPR, the interpretation of that legislation and the Nowak judgement from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Data protection responsibilities fall on the relevant data controller, and it is the data controller who is obliged to interpret and implement data...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 646 and 653 together. I know that access to personal information is a recurring and priority concern for those directly involved and personally affected by mother and baby homes and related institutions. It is Government policy that persons should have access to such information insofar as is legally and constitutionally possible. I acknowledge that...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Data (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: The distinction between access to personal data and contact with natural family is a point made by adoption stakeholder groups and I understand that, while a lot of adoptees would like access to family of origin details, it often does not necessarily follow that they want contact or to build a relationship with that family. As I have noted in previous responses to legislative proposals...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Data (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 649 and 650 together. In considering the natural mother’s expectation of privacy in the adoption process, it is important to take account of the context in which adoption took place in the past. While adoption today is a child focused service, aimed at providing a family for a child where their own parents are unable to care for them, in the past, the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Data (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: 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 of 2004. That decision by Government, and the subsequent establishment, under the law, of the Commission, had indelible consequences for the format of the investigation that was to be conducted,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Archives (29 Sep 2020)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 655 and 654 together. The arrangements for preserving the records compiled by a Commission of Investigation in the course of its work are prescribed in the Commissions of Investigation Act, 2004. Section 43(2) of the Act directs that, on submission of its final report, the Commission will stand dissolved, and, prior to its dissolution, it must deposit all...