Results 121-140 of 10,153 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: One statistic that always strikes me is that Traveller children are 10% less likely to take up the free two-year ECCE scheme than children from the settled community. Those kids on day one of junior infants are immediately at an educational disadvantage and they are trying to catch up from day one. We are targeting those early years, but that also includes school-age childcare. It is to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 114 together. There have been significant developments in the entitlements to different forms of family leave for working families in recent years. The Government committed in the programme for Government 2020 to supporting parents, including by extending paid leave to allow them to spend more time with their children during their earliest years....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy says, the Leave Our Leave campaign from the Irish Cancer Society is concerned with where a woman experiences cancer or a serious illness during her maternity leave and loses the leave while she is recovering. That is something I want to legislate for and I am looking to bring forward proposals on that. The point on the take-up of paternity leave and parents' leave is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Parental Leave (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: One of the key reasons we made parents' leave non-transferable between the two parents was because there is that societal pressure where, if you can transfer it, in a lot of situations dad's time would have gone to mam and that would have been the end of the conversation. We felt it was important to encourage dads in every way possible to spend that very valuable and potentially now 11...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Cabinet committee on children, education and disability met two weeks ago. I presented on capacity, and this is one of the issues I flagged. There are guidelines for the use of school buildings, and we would certainly encourage as robust language as possible there. There are two elements here. There are after-school services and there are services that may run at the same time as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: In budget 2024, I secured €4.5 million to commence the initial roll-out of equal start from September of this year. That allocation is equivalent to €13.5 million in a full year, and I will be very pleased to be able to fully announce equal start in May of this year. Equal start is a funding model and set of universal and targeted measures to support access to, and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: There will be a range of universal and targeted supports, just like there are for AIM. There will be universal supports as regards better training for everybody in settings in terms of social inclusion and how to act on that within the particular setting. Better information will be provided to all parents so they understand what the supports available to them are. Not all parents know...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I could speak at length about the various things we have done in the early years sector. When I became Minister, my priorities were cutting the cost of childcare for parents, ensuring childcare professionals are better paid and improving the sustainability of childcare providers. We have done a significant amount in all three of those areas, while recognising there are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. Ensuring high-quality early learning and childcare is affordable and accessible is a policy priority. The range of data available to my Department indicates that supply of early learning and childcare is increasing but I also recognise there are parts of the country where there are real capacity challenges. The latest early years sector profile survey showed that,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputies very much. I have a lot to address in one minute. Deputies Ó Cathasaigh and Gould raised the issue of the Before 5 centre and indeed the Tánaiste has raised it with me as well. As I explained to the Deputies, right now our capital funding schemes are for expansions. The situation with the Before 5 centre is where we have an existing service that needs...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Significant progress has been made in advancing plans for a dedicated State agency for early learning and care. The programme for Government contained a commitment to advance that. It is envisaged this agency will undertake some functions currently carried out by Pobal early years, including the Better Start programme, the 30 city and county childcare committees, as well as operational...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I outlined a number of steps in the process. We are in the key second phase at the moment, involving an in-depth costing. When I originally brought proposals to Cabinet, we had a notional set-up cost of approximately €14 million and a notional operating cost per year of about €50 million. We are talking significant money, obviously. The Deputy knows me. I believe any...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: EY has been involved in this process since November last year. Its task is to provide an independent financial assessment of the resources available to each of the organisations involved. I am not aware as to whether its analysis has been completed. Whether the report from the negotiator will be published at the end of the process will be a matter for the Government to make a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. The commission of investigation into mother and baby institutions made significant findings regarding the failings of the State and religious bodies, which together ran mother and baby and county home institutions. The Government believes all relevant parties have a collective responsibility to respond to the legacy of these institutions. As the Deputy knows, we have an...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I am aware of the context, and that is why I thought it was important to get somebody with negotiation skills backed up by experts who have financial analysis to understand the means available to the orders and congregations with which these engagements are taking place. As I said earlier, I am not in a position to give a date today. I think it is important that we...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy for her engagement on this issue, about which we have spoken a number of times, and her constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has also been in touch on the issue. In January 2023, through the online offers portal on gov.ie, my Department received a commercial offer of temporary accommodation for beneficiaries of temporary protection fleeing the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I recognise that a significant number of Ukrainians are resident across counties Kilkenny and Carlow. I recognise the welcome they have received from communities. Ukrainians are being accommodated in urban and rural areas. People are being accommodated in many different situations all over Ireland. Our primary focus is on meeting the necessary guidelines we have set...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: We have converted many types of buildings for use as Ukrainian accommodation. The Deputy has set out her concerns about the use of equestrian facilities but we have done it successfully in Millstreet and in Kill. Those are two areas in which we have converted equestrian accommodation into emergency accommodation in recent times, recognising the scale of our accommodation challenge. I...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Approximately €370 million has been allocated to the National Childcare Scheme this year to reduce out of pocket costs to families using registered early learning and childcare. This Scheme is designed to be flexible, recognising that early learning and childcare needs are different for each family. The Scheme is also designed on a “money follows the child” basis. As...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Protection (30 Apr 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I acknowledge the current level of social work vacancies in Tusla and the challenges in recruiting sufficient numbers of social workers into Tusla. The critical importance of children in care and children in need of child welfare and protection services being allocated a social worker is paramount, and my Department is working closely with Tusla on the recruitment and retention of social...