Results 14,141-14,160 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Adoption Legislation (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputy for that question. I have made a decision in line with parliamentary reforms that the heads of that Bill will go to the Committee on Health and Children. When they do, the complexities and parameters of the situation regarding access to information for those people who have been adopted will emerge quickly once discussions begin on the heads of the Bill. It will provide...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Adoption Legislation (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy's points are very interesting. A certain amount of the scenario she has painted can be dealt with in legislation. For example, where a birth mother has no objection to contact being made, it is possible to put in place a scheme and a system, perhaps with mediation and counselling, whereby if there is agreement to contact, that can be facilitated. I do not think it has been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Costs (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The idea of the review is obviously to examine the two schemes available at the moment, but I have made it quite clear that developing more supports for child care will require additional investment. That is the reality. I am facing a situation in which 60% was taken from the child care budget and I am working to build up that budget again. That is what I have done. I have particularly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Costs (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: People will not have to pay for their training. My whole agenda is to have high-quality affordable and accessible child care, but there is a considerable challenge in this country arising in respect of that, given the resources that are necessary and given the prior history of direct investment and direct payment to families.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Costs (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: Looking at the OECD chart, one can see we are very high up in terms of direct payment. There is a history of under-investment and there has been a withdrawal of over €300 million from the sector between 2008 and 2011. I intend to rebuild the sector-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Costs (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: -----and that will result in more affordable and accessible child care being available to parents who need it.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Inter-Country Adoptions (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I would like to put the Deputy's question in the context of changes in inter-country adoptions. Recent years have seen a significant fall-off in the number of inter-country adoptions taking place internationally. The total number of children adopted into the top 12 receiving states in 2004 was 43,142. In 2011, this figure had dropped to 21,911, which is a drop of 50%. The United States,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Inter-Country Adoptions (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The legislation passed in 2010 referred to adoptions with non-Hague countries, but the whole purpose of the change is to have adoptions with Hague countries. In fact, just this year the vast majority of adoptions are taking place from Hague countries, which is the right way. We want to have adoptions with countries which have signed up to the standards of the Hague convention. Having said...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Inter-Country Adoptions (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: Let me just say that there have been many discussions. A proposal has been put to the Russian authorities and we are awaiting their reply. This is the latest in a series of proposals to them. A huge amount of work has been done. We are working on a bilateral agreement with Russia but we await the outcome. There are quite complex legal considerations, but we have put the effort in. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Inter-Country Adoptions (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: We await a final outcome from the Russian side, hopefully in April.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Costs (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: Let me put the child care budget in context. Between 2008 and 2011, €384 million, or 60%, was removed from it. Between 2011 and 2014, I increased overall funding to the early years child care sector by €14 million. These are the financial and overall economic challenges that we face in dealing with the issue of affordable and accessible child care, which the Deputy rightly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Care Costs (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is important to understand that child care costs what it does because the subvention did not target child care places and a couple of hundred million euro has been removed from the sector. I am examining our two schemes to determine how they can operate more effectively. Even though we are providing support to more than 100,000 children, it is clear that a review of the schemes will give...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Bodies (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: Thirty three City and County Childcare Committees were established in 2001 under the Office of the Minister for Children to help support the development of childcare locally. The current role of the Committees is to assist the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in improving and expanding the quality of childcare services available to parents in their area. The Committees offer...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Children in Care (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: Children who are unable to live with their parent(s) for their welfare and protection are taken into the care of the Child and Family Agency and placed mainly in foster care. Less than 1% of children in care with specialised needs are placed in a High Support or Special Care Unit. The Child and Family Agency informed my Department on 16th January 2014, that revised arrangements for the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Qualifications (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: International evidence tells us that raising the qualification levels of staff working with children is key to improving the quality of services. As part of the quality agenda, therefore, I announced last year that by September 2015 all staff working with children in early years services would have to have a minimum Level 5 (on the National Qualifications Framework) qualification in early...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Proceedings (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I launched the Child Care Law Reporting Project in November 2012 to provide information on the circumstances that lead the Child and Family Agency to seek Care and Supervision Orders in Court. The Project provides a snapshot report of selected cases from courts around the country. It does not report on all cases. The majority of cases reported on to date were in Dublin. The report...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Records Provision (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 20 together. The Child and Family Agency provides an Information and Tracing Service throughout the country to birth mothers, adopted persons and their families. The Adoption Act 2010, requirement that agencies providing Information and Tracing services would gain accreditation resulted in a number of religious orders deciding not to apply for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Inter-Country Adoptions (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 25 together. The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is a multilateral treaty concluded on May 29, 1993 in The Hague, Netherlands. There are currently 93 contracting states to this Convention. Ireland ratified the Convention on 1st November 2010. Ireland strongly supports the principles of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Ombudsman for Children Remit (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can inform the Deputy that I have already made significant changes to the remit of the Ombudsman for Children and have no immediate plans to further extend the powers and remit of the Ombudsman for Children. The Ombudsman for Children produced a report in March 2012 entitled ‘A Report by the Ombudsman for Children on the operation of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002’....

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Proposed Legislation (27 Mar 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I share the deep distaste of colleagues for events such as child beauty pageants which are not at all appropriate for children. I have asked my Department to examine options which can be taken. My Department has commissioned and funded a research project which is being conducted by University College Cork and which is looking at the impact of commercialisation and sexualisation of children...