Results 1,261-1,280 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care Education (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: That is fair enough. The issue of quality, which was mentioned by the Deputy, is very important. Additional money has been put into the learner fund and many other initiatives around Síolta have been put in place. Quality is very important to us because we know that a poor quality school or preschool service can have an adverse effect on children, so it has to be of high quality to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Autism Support Services (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I am committed to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. I have been conscious for some time of the difficulty experienced by some children with a disability in accessing and benefiting fully from the ECCE programme. With this in mind, my Department and the Departments of Education and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is the statutory body with responsibility for providing effective responses to victims of domestic violence and sexual violence. At all times, Tusla's key priority is to ensure that the needs of victims of domestic violence and sexual violence are being met in the best way possible. For this reason, the 2015 budget is being directed towards front-line...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Asylum Support Services (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: My colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, has primary responsibility in the area of asylum and immigration. Policy responsibility for such refugee children travelling with their parents, insofar as it extends to my Department, is in relation to providing care and protection for any children where their welfare and safety are identified as a concern. Children, separated from...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Inter-Country Adoptions (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: At the outset I wish to clarify that work on a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation has not ceased. It remains the aim of my Department to achieve a bilateral agreement, but I do not believe this will be possible to finalise it in the short term because of a number of difficult issues outstanding. I recently met with the Russian Irish Adoption Group. I am conscious that...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Aftercare Services (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: All young people leaving care who have been in care for 12 months on their 16th birthday or for 12 consecutive months prior to their 18th birthday are entitled to an aftercare plan. The transition to independent adulthood can be challenging for many young people and a key factor in achieving success is ensuring that assessment, preparation and planning for leaving care begins in the years...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Prior to Budget 2016, my Department provided funding of more than a quarter of a billion euro annually to support the implementation of a number of childcare support programmes that assist parents in accessing quality childcare. This funding, which is in addition to the direct support provided to all parents in the form of Child Benefit, supports more than 100,000 children each year. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: The Cuan Álainn Centre was established independently of the State. It opened in 2012 and is funded by Respond. The Cuan Álainn centre provides accommodation for a range of clients, some of whom may have been in emergency accommodation provided by domestic violence refuges. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, allocates available funding for domestic violence to emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Education Welfare Service (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has a general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The statutory Educational Welfare Service of Tusla has a key role to respond to instances where children are not attending school regularly or where there is a concern about a child's educational welfare. Children whose...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Detention Centres Provision (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: A reform programme has been implemented in recent years on the Oberstown campus to provide improved facilities, in order to accommodate older children under the Government commitment to end the practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities. Given the scale of the reform programme, there is a need for sufficient planning and preparation and continued management and staff...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: National Youth Strategy (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I was delighted to publish Ireland's first National Youth Strategy 2015 - 2020 on 8th October 2015 at the Bluebell Youth and Community Project in Dublin 12. The National Youth Strategy sets out Government's aim and objectives for young people, aged 10 to 24 years, so that they can be active and healthy, achieving their full potential in learning and development, safe and protected from...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: After-School Support Services (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I established the Inter-Departmental Group earlier this year to consider options for future investment in early years and after-school childcare. This Group reported to Government in July this year, setting out a range of options for future investment to enhance affordability, increase the accessibility and improve the quality of early years and after-school childcare. Several...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Domestic Violence Refuges (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: It is my understanding that the Cuan Álainn Centre was established independently of the State. It opened in 2012 and is funded by Respond. The Cuan Álainn centre provides accommodation for a range of clients some of whom may have been in emergency accommodation provided by domestic violence refuges. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency allocates available funding for domestic...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Regulation (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Early years services are currently subject to the Child Care (Pre-School Services)(No 2) Regulations 2006. To provide for the implementation of the legislative changes to the Child Care Act 1991, which were enacted through the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, it was necessary to carry out a root and branch re-examination of the 2006 Regulations, including a re-structuring of the Regulations...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I am committed to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. I have been conscious for some time of the difficulty experienced by some children with a disability in accessing and benefiting fully from the ECCE programme. With this in mind, my Department and the Departments of Education and...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Strategies (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I was pleased to meet with the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) on 29th September. The meeting took place to discuss NYCI's pre-budget submission, the National Youth Strategy, Peace Funding and the “Skills Summary” project. NYCI provided tremendous support to my Department in the development and launch of the National Youth Strategy, and I would particularly like to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Strategy Implementation (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: The Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme is an innovative prevention and early intervention initiative. The programme builds on the work of the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme 2007-2013. The Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme involves joint investment of my Department and The Atlantic Philanthropies of €29.7m in evidence-informed interventions to improve the long-term...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Services (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: Earlier this year I requested Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to undertake a national audit in order to quantify and verify the number of cases awaiting allocation to a social worker. The findings of the audit were recently brought to the attention of my colleagues at Cabinet Sub-Committee level and were also the subject of particular discussion with the Department of Public Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Proceedings (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: The Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) is an independent project authorised under Section 29 of the Child Care Act 1991 (as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2007), and in accordance with Regulations made under that Section to report on child care proceedings. The project is supported in this work by my Department, the One Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies. The aims...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse Reports (21 Oct 2015)

James Reilly: I would like to acknowledge the work done by One in Four and very much respect the views contained in its Annual Report for 2014. I share One in Four's vision of working towards a society where children are free from sexual violence. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of sexual violence. In terms of financial resources,...