Results 14,581-14,600 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Tuffy argues that a person who has the right to be heard on access should have the right to be heard to discharge the entire order.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Tuffy has achieved that. She is winning.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: May I respond?

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The bulk of Senator Tuffy's comments are addressed by the Government amendment on access. The principal Act's access arrangements are expressly provided in this legislation. The Parliamentary Counsel was concerned that their implication was not sufficient on a matter as fundamental as access. As Senator Tuffy pointed out, it is an area where a wider range of parties is expressly recognised...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will look at the question, but let us talk about the best interests of the child. We are talking here about a child who has already spent five years in the care of a foster parent. Therefore the court has taken the view, either with the consent of the person who surrendered the child into care or having looked at all the circumstances in the light of a care order under section 18, that in...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank Senators on all sides of the House for the welcome they gave the legislation. I appreciate the contributions made. On the detail of the legislation, two points were made by Senator Browne and Senator Henry, respectively, about the duration of time to which this order should apply. The discussion on that was very valuable because it served to bring up the nature and purpose of the...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Amendment No. 6 is a Government amendment. I indicated on Committee Stage that I accepted the thinking behind the views expressed by Senators in regard to interrupted placements. The appropriate period to be disregarded in regard to calculating the period under subsection (2)(a) should be no more than 30 days. Hence, Government amendment No. 6 inserts a new subsection which provides that...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: He did not change them substantially.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank Senator Browne for tabling the amendment. It is not clear from the list of amendments tabled for Report Stage that the distinction is drawn but I am prepared to discuss the issue on the basis the Senator tabled in the amendment in that form. It seeks to draw a distinction for the purposes of continuity between the child aged under 12 and the child aged over 12. The Senator rightly...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (7 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy is aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Child care Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Child care Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children. The EOCP is a seven year development programme which aims to increase the availability and quality of child care to support parents in...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (7 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Child care Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Child care Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children. I understand from enquiries I have made that the Group in question has submitted a request for a review of the decision on their...

Written Answers — Children in Care: Children in Care (7 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I propose to take Questions Nos. 289 to 291, inclusive, together. I welcome the publication of the 5th Annual Report of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) which is comprehensive and provides an important overview of the services provided to children in residential care. The emphasis of the Child Care Act, 1991 is on supporting children and families in their own communities having regard...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (7 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children. As I recently advised the Deputy, the Group in question has been provisionally approved capital funding of €1.4 million under the EOCP in...

Written Answers — Medical Education: Medical Education (7 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children. I understand that the Group in question has been approved total capital grant assistance of €1,507,384 under the EOCP, in respect of a proposal to...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If the Senator speaks on amendment No. 1, I will deal with the matter he has raised in my response to him.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will deal with that.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I have considered carefully the amendments which have been tabled by Senators Browne and Henry, which propose to reduce the period of time for which a child should be in the continuous care of a foster parent or relative before a court order can be sought. The requirement in the Bill that a child be in the care of a foster parent or relative for a continuous period of five years is...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not well disposed to that suggestion. One of the great difficulties regarding foster placements is that difficulties tend to arise in the categories with older children. That a person aged 13 to 16, for example, was in a stable relationship with a foster parent or relative carer does not guarantee they will remain so at age 17. Unfortunately there are many examples of this in the system.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I accept the spirit in which Senator Browne tabled this amendment, but the children in question are in the care of the State. The State has accepted responsibility for these children; the State, not the parents, has gone to the District Court to obtain an order. The children are in the care of the State, through the Health Service Executive, which we all know and love so well. We cannot lose...