Results 1,141-1,160 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: Mick Jagger.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: The child care law reporting project, an important project, does not have a statutory remit. It is permitted to report on child care proceedings under section 29 of the Child Care Act 1991. The amendment would provide for a definition of relevant court documents for the purposes of section 29 of the Child Care Act 1991. The section in question provides for the powers to report on child...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: We covered this earlier and I do not propose to accept either part of this amendment. It has been ruled out of order in any event as it would involve a charge on the Exchequer, which is not allowed under the rules of the House. The amendment seeks to provide Tusla with the ability to extend - at its discretion - the duration of aftercare support to a young person who has attained the age of...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I will give the Senator a very straight answer to that question. Absolutely. Tusla may - that is what it says - support them. So it has the authority to do so. There is no question about that. As for the Senator's interpretation of my previous comments, we are talking about limited resources as is always the case. In such circumstances, there always has to be a balancing of what is...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I am very happy to confirm that and this is why those words are there. They indicate very clearly that there will be circumstances where the agency will feel the need to continue support. I do not intend to rehearse all we have gone through.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I take on board the Senator's comments. We must remember where this Bill comes from and where we have come from. I am not trying to score any political points but I think we were all horrified by the number of children who having left care fell off the cliff and ended up dead - sometimes by their own hand and sometimes by accident. Clearly, the supports were not there and that was a very...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I know the Senator feels that what he is proposing is helpful but were it to be adopted, the amendment would require that aftercare plans would have to be prepared one year in advance of a child leaving the care of the State. A year in the life of a young person is an eternity from their point of view. As a parent, I know the difficulties that present in teenage years. Things that are...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I reassure the Senator that aftercare planning in general starts at the age of 16 years, but the plan is not finalised until six months prior to the child leaving care.

Seanad: Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill: Second Stage (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I am pleased to have the opportunity to address Seanad Éireann in response to the Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2015 put forward by Senator Mary Moran. Any proposal that seeks to raise the education and skill level of young people when they leave school and set out to make their way in the world must be welcome. Government policy objectives are laid out in a national policy...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Public Investment Projects (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: My Department has a resource allocation of €22.614 million in 2015 to support capital developments across a range of programmes and services that includes: -General Childcare Programmes - €8.250 million -Youth Organisations and Services - €0.750 million -National Children’s Detention Facility - €13.614 million The amounts approved for funding from the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (11 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: At present, children qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year. This means, for example, that children born between 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2012 qualified for free pre-school from September 2015. Children whose third birthday...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Completion Programme (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: The School Completion Programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to generally improve the school attendance, participation and retention of young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage. The Programme is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified through the Department of Education and Skills’...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Absenteeism (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: Since 2014, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency under the remit of my Department, has a general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The education welfare services of Tusla, comprising the statutory Education Welfare Officers, the School Completion Programme and the Home School Community Liaison Scheme are key...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: Thank you for bringing this to my attention but as the Deputy will appreciate, it is not appropriate for me to comment on an individual case. I have forwarded the information supplied by the Deputy to Tusla, and I requested a short report on the matter. I will revert to the Deputy with appropriate information when the report is received.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Lottery Funding Disbursement (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: I believe that there is value in providing small grants targeted at specific projects or activities that benefit children and young people. With this in mind, I am working with my officials to put in place a scheme of modest one-off grants in 2016 for local projects or groups working with children and young people. Rather than using National Lottery funding, the scheme will utilise some...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is currently provided by private commercial and community/not-for-profit pre-school services with more than 4,300 services throughout the country participating in the programme. I announced in Budget 2016 additional annual funding of €85 million to support the achievement of affordable, accessible, high quality childcare....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care Education (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: At present, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides one free pre-school year for each eligible child before commencing primary school. Each qualifying child is entitled to one free pre-school year only. As this child has received the full free pre-school complement in the 2014-2015 academic year, no additional provision can be made. The recent Budget decisions,...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Expenditure (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: My Department has provided funding over the past four years to support the upgrading and refurbishment of early years services under the Early Years Capital Programme as follows:- - 2012 - capital funding of €6 million was provided to fund a maintenance programme for services (i.e. to address remedial, maintenance and renovation work and to purchase equipment). This funding, which...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care Supports (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: Under the Child Care Act, 1991 and the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, the Child and Family Agency has a statutory duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. The majority of children in care are in foster care, one third of whom are placed with relatives. Foster care allowances are provided in order to allow foster carers meet all of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Seirbhísí Chúram Leanaí (10 Nov 2015)

James Reilly: Ba mhaith liom dearbhú don Teachta Dála go bhfuil na bearta a d’fhógair mé mar chuid de Bhuiséad 2016 ar fáil ag gach soláthróir cúraim leanaí, iad siúd atá lonnaithe i bpobail Ghaeltachta san áireamh. Faoi láthair soláthraíonn mo Roinn maoiniú de níos mó ná ceathrú...