Results 1,681-1,700 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Regulation (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Childcare Act 1991 (as amended by the Child and Family Agency Act 2013) requires that all persons wishing to operate a prescribed early years service must be placed on the register of early years services, which is maintained by Tusla - the Child and Family Agency. This is an important legislative requirement. Continued operation of a service is contingent on registration with Tusla's...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I am aware that there are a number of areas of the country where the youth population has grown to a significant extent without a corresponding growth in the level of targeted youth service provision. Meath is one such area. In order to address this my Department undertook, along with the Education and Training Boards, a mapping exercise with Pobal of all youth service provision in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Irish Language (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 24 together. I am conscious of the value of supporting the provision of services in the Irish language to children at an early age, and of the role pre-schools can play in promoting Irish as a living language. In this regard my Department has collaborated with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in agreeing a comprehensive set of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The welfare and protection of children in this State continues to be a core priority of mine. I have secured a budget of over €786 million for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which includes funding for the recruitment of more social workers and support staff for Tusla. I can assure the Deputy that all referrals are screened when they are received. All urgent and emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Funding (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 21 and 38 together. Assisting families to access high quality, affordable early learning and care and school age childcare is a priority for me as Minister and hence I take the issues raised by colleagues and services very seriously. My Department funds a number of early learning and care and school age childcare programmes and I want to see...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) submitted a Fifth Interim Report to me on 15 March 2019. I intend to seek formal Government approval to publish the report. In advance of this I will consult the Attorney General. Subject to this advice and approval, it is my intention to publish the report prior to Easter. The dignity and memory of those...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Years Sector (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I have been unequivocal in my support for better pay and conditions for early learning and care professionals, who play a critical role in supporting children's development. They deserve to be valued and respected for this. My Department funds a wide range of initiatives to support the quality, affordability and accessibility of early learning and care. However the State is not the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Staff (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I met with the Chair and representatives of the Tusla Board on two occasions when the recruitment of a permanent Chief Executive Officer for Tusla was discussed among other matters. These meetings took place on 1 October, 2018 and 28 January, 2019. The Child and Family Agency Act 2013 provides that it is the responsibility of the Board of Tusla to appoint the Chief Executive Officer of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Funding (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Emerging Irish research, such as the Greentown Study, commissioned by my Department, identifies a small number of children in the state who fall victim to the influence of criminal networks and gangs, as foot-soldiers or couriers. These children are thus more likely to enter the criminal justice system and serve periods of detention. This can have profound negative impacts on their emotional...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Data (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I can advise the Deputy that, at the end of December 2018, there were a total of 26,433 child protection cases open to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Open cases are allocated to a social worker and assigned a priority level: high, medium or low. At the end of December, there were a total of 1,003 High Priority open cases, 3,296 at Medium Priority and 2,133 Low Priority awaiting...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse Reports (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The shocking abuse suffered by these very brave young women while in foster care in the early 2000's has disrupted and deeply impacted their lives. I am very conscious of the significant public interest in the case. The Deputy will be aware that the review process begun by the National Review Panel in 2016 was paused at the request of An Garda Síochána, to allow criminal...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme Implementation (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: On 11th March, I announced the launch of the National Childcare Scheme- our pathway to truly accessible, affordable, quality childcare. The scheme will open to applications this October, with payments flowing from November. As previously noted to the House, the provision of a timeline for the introduction of the National Childcare Scheme has always been dependent on having the necessary...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The ECCE programme is a universal programme available to all children within the eligible age range. It provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks, free of charge to parents. The rules of the ECCE scheme clearly state that: 2.4.7Requirement to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Detention Centres (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I am advised by Oberstown Children Detention Campus that prior to the visit by the reviewers to the Campus, they were advised about what action should be taken, should any child protection or welfare issues arise during their time there. This is in line with standard procedures in such circumstances. The Reviewers were advised to notify the Director of any such issues that they became aware...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Provision (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has a number of programmes and schemes in place to support parents and guardians with the cost of Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare. These are available on a national basis through thousands of registered providers across all counties, including Wexford. They include: - The universal pre-school programme, which provides children with 15 hours per week of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Communications (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: In the afternoon of Monday 25th February, during a telephone call on another matter, Mr Ian Elliott advised an official of my Department of the existence of the letter from Tusla (dated 18th February) and of his discussion about this earlier that day (25th February) with two officials of Tusla and with senior Gardaí. He was later asked by the same official to set out the details in an...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Departmental Communications (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: In the afternoon of Monday 25th February, during a telephone call on another matter, Mr Ian Elliott advised an official of my Department of the existence of the letter from Tusla (dated 18th February). He also informed the official of his discussion about this which took place earlier that day (25th February) with two officials of Tusla and with senior Gardaí. Mr Elliot was later asked...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) submitted a Fifth Interim Report to me on 15 March 2019. It is a substantial report which focuses on the burial arrangements of persons who died while resident in these institutions. The report includes extensive technical reports prepared in the course of the Commission’s investigations into the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Adoption Data (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation regarding illegal registrations. The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill, 2016 will address the recommendation regarding access to information for illegally registered people as they will be able to apply for an information and tracing service on the same basis as adopted people. However, we do know that the practice of illegal...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme Implementation (28 Mar 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 39 and 40 together. On 11th March, I launched of the National Childcare Scheme- our pathway to truly accessible, affordable, quality childcare. The scheme will open to applications this October, with payments flowing from November. Good progress is currently being made in preparing for the Scheme's launch. Last July, the primary legislation establishing...