Results 1,221-1,240 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I share the Deputy's concern regarding the issue of youth mental health; and indeed it is a subject that needs to be tackled through a whole of society response - one that includes the statutory, voluntary and community sectors. While this is an issue that is led by the Department of Health, I recognise that other departments and agencies are critical in supporting the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Approximately 6 % of  the 5,989 children in care in Ireland live in residential settings. In April 2019 this amounted to  370 young people.  Individual residential settings care for  small numbers of children, often no more than two or three. All centres are inspected against the relevant standards and regulations and  the majority of inspections show...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Legislation (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I have received a considerable amount of correspondence on the issue of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016, including from natural parents and people who were adopted as children. If the Deputy has a specific case in mind I would encourage them to send any relevant correspondence on to me. I am aware that there are cases where natural parents have concerns about invasion of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I wish to inform the Deputy that as the data requested is not readily available my officials have requested that Tusla respond to you directly on this matter. 

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Implementation of the Value for Money and Policy Review of Youth Funding Programmes been a priority for my Department for some time and represents a significant multistrand change management programme. Replacement of the existing four targeted schemes with a fit for purpose single targeted scheme is one of the key recommendations of the review. In July 2018 I brought the high-level...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Shareholdings (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I can confirm to the Deputy that neither I, or my Department, are shareholders in any entity.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Discipline (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guideline for Schools (NEWB, 2008) was published as part of the thenNEWB’s overall strategy to support school attendance and participation. They were designed to provide support for schools in their work with students and their families to ensure that schools can maintain the best possible educational environment. The Guidelines were prepared with...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 353 and 355 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, does not have a role in the diagnosis of medical conditions. Where a child is in the care of Tusla, the Agency will work to source any required supports to meet the child's identified needs, in collaboration with other bodies such as the HSE. I am not in a position to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Medical Conditions (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 354 and 356 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that I am not in a position to comment on the diagnosis, or treatment, of health conditions. Matters concerning the HSE, including hospital programmes that may be offered to children diagnosed with a condition, are more appropriate for the attention of my Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Health.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme. There are currently 121 Family Resource Centres, which are funded under the Programme. Funding for the Programme has increased from €13.5m in 2017 to €18.0m this year. In Budget 2019, I secured an increase of €1.5 million for the FRC Programme. This additional funding is being used...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: School Discipline (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guideline for Schools (NEWB, 2008) was published as part of the thenNEWB’s overall strategy to support school attendance and participation. They were designed to provide support for schools in their work with students and their families to ensure that schools can maintain the best possible educational environment. The Guidelines were prepared with...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Contracts Data (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: My Department is located at Miesian Plaza, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2 which is leased by the OPW. There are four civil service Departments using this office space and the security company G4S provides security from 9pm to 7am Monday to Friday, and 24/7 at the weekends / public holidays for the OPW tenant block. The costs of this are shared across the tenant Departments. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Where a child is in the care, or known to, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, information about any known medical issues may be recorded on their file. Information about the health status of individual children is not collated centrally by Tusla for the purpose of reporting. Where a child in care has a diagnosed medical condition, Tusla social workers will work collaboratively with the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Budgets (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: My Department is currently examining expenditure requirements across all programme areas, including expenditure trends thus far in 2019, to identify how services can be delivered within the overall fiscal parameters for 2020. As the Deputy will be aware, this forms part of the normal budget/estimates process and it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this point.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The estimated costs per annum across the National Childcare Scheme of increasing the universal subsidy to €1 and €2 respectively are set out in the table below. The figures are based on the full cost to the National Childcare Scheme, assuming that the minimum targeted subsidy is increased so as never to be below the universal subsidy in all cases. The costs are arrived at by: -...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme Data (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The National Childcare Scheme will greatly increase the number of families who can access financial support, with some families receiving subsidies for the first time. This is because the Scheme removes many of the restrictive eligibility requirements of the existing support programmes, whereby a parent must be in receipt of certain Social Protection payments or a Medical Card in order to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges Provision (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency provides funding and coordination supports to some 59 organisations that deliver a range of services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence throughout the country. In 2019, €25.3 million is being allocated to Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence services, an increase of €1.5 million over 2018. This year, the additional...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Bullying of Children (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 365 and 371 to 373, inclusive, together. I am conscious of the issue referred to by the Deputy. The internet is an increasingly valuable resource for everyone, including children and young people, but it also exposes people to new risks including cyberbullying. My Department does not have a role in relation to the coordination or investigation of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 366 and 367 together. My Department maintains close contact with the National Youth Organisations and I, and officials from my Department, meet formally with these organisations twice a year to share knowledge and information on developments in the youth sector. Most recently I met with the National Youth Organisations at a venue in Dublin on 11th April...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (10 Jul 2019)

Katherine Zappone: This question relates 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. I can inform the Deputy that data on the number of open cases, which are cases which have been assessed as requiring a social work intervention, is reported monthly, and published in the National...