Results 1,961-1,980 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Family Resource Centres (26 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that funding of some €18 million is being made available to the Family Resource Centre Programme in 2019, which is administered by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. This is an increase of €1.5 million over 2018 funding. The notification of 2019 annual funding allocations to individual Family Resource Centres is an operational matter for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (26 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I am informed by Tusla that it does not fund the organisation referred to by the Deputy. Tusla has advised me that it purchases services from a similarly named company, which is a private provider of residential and community based therapeutic services to children and young people. The services provided by this company are procured in the normal manner through the public procurement process...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Inspections (26 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: 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 these issues raised in your question very seriously. My Department funds a number of early learning and care and school age childcare programmes. Given the large amount of public money that is used in funding these programmes, there...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: EU Funding (26 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The PEACE IV Programme is an initiative of the European Union, managed in Northern Ireland by the Special EU Programmes Body, SEUPB, which is designed to support peace and reconciliation through youth work in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of Ireland. The Programme is run primarily by SEUPB on behalf of the European Commission in conjunction with the Accountable Departments...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services (26 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: 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 these issues raised in your question very seriously. My Department funds a number of early learning and care and school age childcare programmes. Given the large amount of public money that is used in funding these programmes, there needs...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education Data (26 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Early Childhood Care and Education, ECCE, programme is a universal programme available to all children within the eligible age range. It was first introduced in 2010 as a one-year programme to provide children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school. In line with a commitment in the Programme for Government, the ECCE Programme was extended...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Funding (21 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has statutory responsibility to support and promote the development, welfare and protection of children. Tusla provides funding to numerous organisations that provide child and adolescent counselling and psychotherapy services. The Deputy's question refers to an operational matter for Tusla. I have requested Tusla to respond directly to the Deputy on this...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse (21 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 179 to 185, inclusive, together. In early February, a detailed update was provided to my officials for my attention about the current status of the review of historic files and updated figures in terms of the number of victims of abuse, the alleged perpetrators and the reporting of same. I have been assured by Scouting Ireland that they are providing the...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Office of Public Works Expenditure (21 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Office of Public Works (OPW) had oversight of the delivery of the capital project at Oberstown Children Detention Campus on behalf of my Department. As the OPW is the appropriate body to supply the information requested by the Deputy, I have requested same from that office. I will revert to the Deputy in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (21 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 187 and 188 together. When the Ryan Report was published in 2009 there were a number of calls for the Residential Institutions Redress Act to be extended to include additional institutions, including the Bethany Home. As the Deputy will be aware, my colleague the Minister for Education and Skills is responsible for the Redress Act legislation and related...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Services (21 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides funding through its Domestic Sexual and Gender Based Violence (DSGBV) Programme to 16 organisations throughout the country that deliver counselling and support services to victims of sexual violence. The organisation to which the Deputy refers is one of the 16 funded services for victims of sexual violence, and has received the following funding...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Funding (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I have secured €6.106m in funding for the 2019 Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Capital programmes. This funding will be delivered in three strands, as follows: €4.231m has been allocated to Strand A, which will offer grants of up to €50,000 in value to early learning and care providers for the creation of new 0-3 places where demand for these is clearly...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Affordable Childcare Scheme Data (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The estimated costs per annum across the Affordable Childcare Scheme of increasing the universal subsidy in 50 cent intervals up to €7 are set out in the following table. The figures are based on the full cost to the Affordable Childcare Scheme, assuming that the minimum targeted subsidy is increased so as never to be below the universal subsidy in all cases. The costs are arrived at...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Early Childhood Care and Education (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides for a programme of early learning for children before commencing primary school. With effect from September 2018, all children meeting the minimum age requirement of 2 years and 8 months will be eligible for a full two programme years on the ECCE scheme. This further enhancement delivers fully on a commitment in the Programme...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Irish Language (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Under the Education theme of the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010 to 2030, my Department is committed to supporting the provision of services in the Irish language to children at an early age; and supporting the role pre-schools and crèches can play in promoting Irish as a living language. There are no specific commitments in the strategy relating to bodies under the remit of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Abuse Reports (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 222 to 224, inclusive, together. The National Review Panel (NRP) for the investigation of serious incidents, including the deaths of children and young people in care or known to the child protection system, was set up in 2010 as part of the Implementation Plan associated with the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (the Ryan Report). The...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Data (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Rabbitte for her question. The Learner Fund for Early Learning and Care practitioners first opened for applications by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in March 2014. Between 2014 and 2016, four strands of funding were opened. The Learner Fund at that time had two primary aims: 1. To support Early Learning and Care practitioners working directly with...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Community Childcare Subvention Programme (20 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: 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 these issues raised in your question very seriously. My Department funds a number of early learning and care and school age childcare programmes. Given the large amount of public money that is used in funding these programmes, there needs...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Childcare Costs (19 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: Providing a childcare infrastructure that enables accessible, affordable, quality childcare for all has been a cornerstone of my work as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs since 2016. The research report is from that year. The years I have been in office as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs have seen an unprecedented increase in investment in key early learning and care, ELC, and...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Childcare Costs (19 Feb 2019)

Katherine Zappone: I agree with the Deputy on all of the questions and issues she has raised. Single parent families were a key group I had in mind when I decided to move towards the affordable childcare scheme. Even though the full scheme is not ready to be launched and the streamlining of all of the different targeted subsidies is not yet complete, from the beginning of my ministry and the first budget I...