Results 18,081-18,100 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Child Care Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Deputy Wallace. There is no doubt that Ireland was slow to develop comprehensive child care, but great progress has been made in the past number of years, primarily thanks to EU funding but also because of some national funding. Further developments in the area are hugely constrained despite the worldwide evidence because financial resources are limited. However, I assure the...

Youth Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department is involved in ongoing and productive dialogue with the youth sector through the National Youth Work Advisory Committee, NYWAC. This committee comprises a chairperson and 32 members drawn equally from the voluntary and statutory sectors involved in the administration and provision of youth work programmes and services. Thirteen nominees from the National Youth Council of...

Youth Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I take the Deputy's point. We are all aware of the threats posed to young people by alcohol, drugs and unhealthy lifestyles. We must get to grips with the challenges posed by consumerism, the media and new technologies. There is a number of things I am doing on the development of youth work and I am going to ensure we have a national youth development policy because we have no...

Youth Services (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can only agree with Deputy Stanton, it is a point well made. Access to facilities and resources is a huge issue. We have seen buildings that could be used by local youth clubs and organisations that are empty in the evenings, the very time when they could be available to such organisations. I will pursue that with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to see if...

Cabinet Committees (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: Some 113 reports.

Cabinet Committees (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy promised fundamental reform.

Health Service Staff (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Ryan report implementation plan committed to the recruitment of an additional 270 social workers. Some 200 of these new posts were in place by the end of 2010, in addition to the backfilling of other vacancies which occurred. An additional 60 social workers are due to be recruited by the HSE in 2011. These posts are at various stages in the recruitment process. Last week, in reviewing...

Health Service Staff (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, they are at various stages in the HSE recruitment processes. As the Deputy knows, the commitment is to have these social workers in place by the year's end. Other recruitments have been going on too. Up to 168 additional social workers new to the HSE were recruited up to the beginning of September 2011. This process is being managed by Gordon Jeyes, national director for children and...

Health Service Staff (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, the 200 figure remains for 2010. At the beginning of 2011, 168 additional social workers new to the HSE had been recruited. The 200 figure stands, but the other figure relates to people who are new to the HSE. The plan is for all social workers to be in place - the 200, the 60 and the backfilling of places - by the end of this year.

Child Welfare (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: In July, I launched the revised Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children. The guidelines deal with the recognition, reporting and management of child safety concerns. They emphasise the need to safeguard and protect children, that the safety and welfare of children are everyone's responsibility and that children will have safer lives where everyone is...

Child Welfare (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy said he supports the legislation to put Children First on a statutory basis. As I stated before, doing so is not simply about reporting but about inter-agency working. Just this morning, I attended the meetings of the local children's services committees. We see at county level that we need those who are working with children to work together. Inter-agency work is required to...

Child Welfare (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy knows the current financial position as well as I do. Like all Departments, mine will be part of the current expenditure review. A special management audit, led by a leading UK child protection expert, has commenced with a view to ensuring we will have in place appropriate systems to manage the need for a rapid response. We are examining the sorts of thresholds that should apply...

Ministerial Responsibilities (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware of the matter raised by the Deputy. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has been in contact with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. On 3 June 2011, responsibility for the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 was transferred to me as Minster for Children and Youth Affairs. I understand that under this Act the inclusion of the National Council for Special Education...

Ministerial Responsibilities (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can only agree with Deputy Murphy on the vulnerability of the children and of their parents when trying to access a service. I fully understand this and appreciate the stresses and the difficulties. Deputy Murphy asked me to outline how the process for taking responsibility for this area might move forward and where the discussions are going. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has...

Ministerial Responsibilities (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I want to stress that at this point, a decision has not been taken. The Ombudsman for Children will return to me with her proposals after which discussions will take place with the Department for Education and Skills. I know that Department will have its own plans on how it sees the service developing. I must have those discussions with the Department as well. The Deputy made a relevant...

Child Abuse (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Deputy McConalogue. In July 2011, I launched the revised Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children. The guidance deals with the recognition, reporting and management of child safety concerns. The revised guidance replaces the original version of Children First which was first published in 1999. The HSE, as I said in reply to the question from...

Child Abuse (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is quite the opposite. The Deputy's Government made no assessment of the situation and did no audit. In addition, it left the services in a state where it is unclear precisely what is happening around the country. The previous Government promised to introduce legislation by 2010 to put Children First on a statutory basis, but did not do so. Since coming into office, I have worked on...

Child Abuse (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: Clearly, the priority is to protect children and keep them safe. That is precisely what we are doing by working for consistency, looking at referrals around the country and ensuring there is an adequate response to them. In addition, we are putting in place legislation and an implementation plan, which is what the handbook is offering. That is how to keep children safe, by responding to...

Adoption Records (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have been advised by the Adoption Authority of Ireland that it only holds records of adoptions effected since the introduction of statutory adoption in 1952. It holds no records relating to birth registrations. The Adoption Board commenced a preliminary examination of available records in 2010. The audit related to records retained by the authority of contact received from persons who...

Adoption Records (27 Sep 2011)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware of the situation described by Deputy Daly and of the calls by adopted persons for access to historical personal and family information. I completely agree with the Deputy that the files must be preserved intact. It is essential that those files are maintained in a safe and secure place. I agree with the Deputy that there should be one authority with overall responsibility for...