Results 41-60 of 9,900 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Protection (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As this is a service delivery matter, I have requested for Tusla to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Protection (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Statutory and operational responsibility for the delivery of child protection and welfare services is a matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The Deputy is seeking information in relation to an operational matter for Tusla. Consequently, I have referred the matter to Tusla, and requested that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Services (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The National Quality Standards Framework for Youth Work (NQSF) is intended to be a practical and developmental framework to enable youth work organisations to assess service provision and to identify areas for development, to be progressed through a continuous improvement plan. The NQSF is currently being reviewed within my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Work Supports (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Youth workers and volunteers are central to the delivery of youth services to young people. The relationships which young people develop with their youth workers or volunteer leaders can be transformative to a young person's life. I have committed to developing a workforce development plan for the youth sector, to support the recruitment and retention of staff and volunteers in the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Youth Work Supports (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department does not collate the information requested by the Deputy. The UBU Your Place Your Space scheme is targeted towards disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable young people. Funding provided under this scheme does not directly fund youth worker posts/salaries, rather, it is allocated on a 'provision of service' basis to meet the needs of the youth population in an area. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Properties (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department does not own or lease any buildings that are currently vacant.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Parliamentary Questions (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I can confirm that across my entire Department the number of parliamentary questions forwarded by my officials to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency since the beginning of 2023 to date in 2024, that are awaiting response, currently stands at 17, of these 8 are from Deputy Tóibín.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I firmly believe the level of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners should reflect the value of their work for children, families, society and the economy. The State is not the employer and therefore does not set the pay or conditions for employees in either early learning and care (ELC) or school-age childcare (SAC) services. However, there is now, through...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: In September 2022, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare. This new funding model supports the delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families as well as stability and sustainability for providers. Together for Better brings together three major programmes, the Early...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1078, 1081 and 1082 together. Under the revised accommodation policy, those granted Temporary Protection from 14 March 2024 who seek accommodation from the State are offered a maximum of 90 days of State-supported accommodation in a Designated Accommodation Centre (DAC). It is expected that such Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) will...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1079 and 1080 together. The overall capacity for Designated Accommodation Centres (DACs) remains under review. My Department continually runs data modelling of arrival numbers, which allows us to plan for the DAC capacity required to service fluctuating arrival numbers and to maintain capacity in the centres based on the turnover within them as...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The institutions covered by this Payment Scheme are those identified by the Commission of Investigation as having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children. The institution at Temple Hill, Blackrock, commonly known as St. Patrick’s Hospital, was not investigated by the Commission of Investigation...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (9 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. The Deputy may wish to be aware that the Community Engagement Team has been established within my Department which stands ready to respond to queries of this nature, and they may be contacted directly at community@equality.gov.ie.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Visa Applications (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy may be aware, in response to the crisis in Afghanistan Ireland, through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), has welcomed over 600 people from Afghanistan. My Department has co-operated with a wide range of organisations to identify individuals and families most at risk. The case the Deputy is referring to was referred to the IRPP by an NGO partner on 21 March...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The First 5 Strategy aims to support parents to be at home with their children for the whole of their first year. Research suggests that children benefit particularly from parental care in this period and the Strategy sets out this evidence in detail. Under Phase 1 an individual entitlement to seven weeks of paid Parent’s Leave and Benefit was delivered to potentially allow children to...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: If a person decides to accept a payment award under the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme they will be asked to sign a legal waiver. To help them to decide if they want to take the payment and sign the waiver, they will be entitled to support towards the cost of legal fees incurred, up to a maximum of €500 (excluding VAT) per application. This will be reimbursed by the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1093, 1100 and 1101 together. The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme opened on 20 March. In terms of staffing for Scheme delivery, a blended operating model was developed. This provides for the Chief Deciding Officer to be supported by a core Executive Office based in my Department and also by experienced third party support, appointed following a...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days. The Deputy may wish to be aware that the Community Engagement Team has been established within my Department which stands ready to respond to queries of this nature, and they may be contacted directly at community@equality.gov.ie.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme opened on 20 March. A dedicated webpage is now live at www.gov.ie/paymentscheme, which contains information on how people can apply to the Payment Scheme, and what information applicants will need. Information on supports to applicants to help them through the application process is available at this webpage, in the information booklet for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (9 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I wish to strongly remind the Deputy that there is no need to obtain legal support or advice to submit an application to the Scheme. The application process is designed to be very straightforward and there is no requirement on the applicant to provide proof of harm or institutional records. The Payment Scheme Office will undertake records searches based on the information provided on the...