Results 1,781-1,800 of 11,687 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding supports Partner Services with their financial sustainability while enhancing the quality, affordability and accessibility of their services. In accordance with Partnership for the Public Good, (DCEDIY 2021) the Core Funding model commits to drive high quality service provision. To support this, Core Funding requires all early learning and care (ELC), school-age childcare (SAC)...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I acknowledge that many early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services report staffing challenges in relation to recruitment and retention. In general, staffing pressures in the sector are caused not by insufficient supply of qualified personnel, but by high levels of staff turnover. I am very conscious of the need for improvement in pay and working conditions for early...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: International Protection Procurement Services (IPPS) contract for the provision of services to accommodation International Protection (IP) applicants. Part of that service provision includes the requirement for the accommodation to be adequately staffed 24/7 to maintain the privacy and security of residents. This is determined on a case by case basis by the provider. The Department does not...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Emergency Accommodation (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As part of the State’s humanitarian response to the Ukrainian crisis, the Government has developed a Rapid Build Housing Programme to provide accommodation for families fleeing the war in Ukraine who request it. The programme aims to provide short-term accommodation for up to 2,800 Ukrainians at several sites across Ireland. The Office of Public Works (OPW) is leading the development...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the 27th March 2024 Government agreed a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy (CAS) for International Protection applicants. The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments. Accommodation in the new strategy will be delivered through the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Programme for Government contains a number of commitments for early learning and childcare, including reforming the system to create one that brings together the best of community and private provision and the development of a new funding model for affordable, accessible, sustainable and high quality early learning and childcare. An Expert Group was established in September 2019 to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (23 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: All centres are subject to inspection by department officials or contracted representatives of the department. There was a Request for Tender in relation to inspections of centres in late 2023. The successful bidder was EOBA Ltd. The previous contract holder of such inspections was QTS Ltd. There have been no failed inspections in 2023/2024. In 2024 to date, there were two centres...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Expenditure (18 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: At present nearly 29,000 people are accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole, of whom nearly 7,000 are children. This compares approximately 8,700 people at the end of February 2022. Together with Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection displaced by the war in Ukraine, this means that Ireland is now accommodating over 100,000 people in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Contracts (18 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the outset of the war in Ukraine in early 2022, Ireland has provided accommodation to over 112,000 people between those fleeing Ukraine and International Protection applicants. IPAS The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is working tirelessly to bring more bed spaces into use, and since January 2023 have brought 125 properties into use to accommodate those who...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (18 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for this question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (18 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this relates to Tusla operational matters, the question has been forwarded to Tusla for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (17 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme provides financial payments and health supports to eligible people who spent time in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution. It is recognised that there are people who suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions, and outside of institutions also. However, the institutions covered by the Scheme are those identified by the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (17 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for this question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Expenditure (17 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 to 122, inclusive, together. Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, my Department continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing the conflict who request it, in line with Government policy. In the initial stages of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department works with Pobal and local City/County Childcare Committees to offer case management support to services in difficulty. This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support including financial supports as appropriate to the individual circumstances of services. Through this...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (17 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The D Hotel has been offered to the International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) and contracted to provide accommodation to International Protection (IP) applicants under the emergency appraisal process, with a capacity of 500 beds. It is functioning as a dispersal centre for the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) with families in residence for a short period of time...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (16 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a subsidy provided to help parents to meet the cost of childcare and allow children to access Early Learning and School Age Childcare. The subsidy is progressive and depends on a number of factors including the age of the child, the income of the household and the number of children in the family. Those with the lowest incomes receive the highest...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Data (16 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy has requested the savings to the Exchequer through reducing the average fees using the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). It should be noted that the NCS reduces out of pocket costs, rather than reduces fees, at a cost of the Exchequer. My Department does not hold individualised fee data for parents as these are local agreements between parents and providers; instead a reduction...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Voluntary Sector (16 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: A key recommendation of Justice Dr Geoffrey Shannon’s Independent review report on the handling of past complaints of abuse in St John Ambulance, which was published on March 16th 2023, was for the appointment of a National Safeguarding officer to the St. John Ambulance Ireland organisation. The recommendations of the Shannon report are a matter for SJAI to implement and my...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (16 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Core Funding, which began in September 2022, is the new funding stream to start a partnership for the public good between the State and providers. Its primary purpose is to improve pay and conditions in the sector as a whole and improve affordability for parents as well as ensuring a stable income to providers. In 2022, €68.7m was initially secured for Core Funding. Following the...