Results 361-380 of 1,051,108 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Richard O'Donoghue OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Willie O'Dea OR speaker:Duncan Smith)

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Child and Family Agency

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: 4. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if Tusla has stopped using the services of a company (details supplied); if so, when it stopped; to provide details of payments to the company in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43567/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: Has Tusla stopped using the services of Supervised Access Ireland? I spoke about this in the Dáil last week when we were making statements on child protection. There are a number of serious issues with Supervised Access Ireland, including the treatment of workers and the overcharging of parents using its services. It seems that Supervised Access Ireland received a fair bit of money in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Following issues with this service provider, Tusla's director of services issued a direction to all regional chief officers on 15 January of this year to stop using the services of this company. Tusla informed my Department on 10 September that one Tusla local area inadvertently re-engaged this particular service. The service was wrongly engaged for supervised access where another funded...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: Was that in 2024?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes, it was this year. Tusla has advised that this arrangement ceased on 8 October this year. Two children in a sibling group availed of this service for supervised access in one local area. It was one family. This company supervised four visits. I want to make it clear that this is not acceptable and should not have happened. We have raised the issue directly with Tusla. The spend...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: I have two follow-up questions. Does the Minister know whether any other State body continues to have contracts with this company? I do not have the information in front of me but, as far as I know, even after Tusla had stopped using this service, with the exception of the unit that continued to do so, another arm of the State was continuing to use the company's services. On the broader...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I always have a preference for the public over the private, particularly in the area of child law and child protection. It is a real concern to me that, because of Tusla's past deficits in recruitment, it is too reliant on private sector providers, whether for supervised access, residential services or fostering services. That is why I have put a lot of investment into Tusla. More than...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh (Atógáil) - Priority Questions (Resumed): Child and Family Agency (24 Oct 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I inadvertently forgot that Deputy Claire Kerrane has the next question. We will then move on to Deputy Ó Cathasaigh.

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed) (24 Oct 2024)

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed): Departmental Budgets (24 Oct 2024)

Departmental Budgets

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed): Departmental Budgets (24 Oct 2024)

Claire Kerrane: 12. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is satisfied with the funding allocated to the youth sector in budget 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43560/24]

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed): Departmental Budgets (24 Oct 2024)

Claire Kerrane: This is about the funding allocated to the youth sector in budget 2025. I note that the National Youth Council of Ireland was particularly disappointed with the amount allocated. Is the Minister satisfied with the budget for next year?

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed): Departmental Budgets (24 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Arising out of budget 2025, €85 million will be allocated to current and capital expenditure for the benefit of young people. That is an increase in funding of €7 million, or almost 9%, on the 2024 budget. I have increased funding for youth services every single year as Minister. This is the largest boost in youth funding that youth services have received during my time as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (24 Oct 2024)

Disability Services

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (24 Oct 2024)

Pauline Tully: 10. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reasons for the delays in accessing augmentative and alternative communication through children’s disability network teams; what actions will be taken to speed this process up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43541/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (24 Oct 2024)

Pauline Tully: Will the Minister address the reasons for the delays in accessing augmentative and alternative devices through children's disability network teams? What actions can or will be taken to speed up the process?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (24 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. In line with the progressing disability services model, 93 children’s disability network teams are aligned to 96 community healthcare networks across the country and provide services and supports for children from birth to 18 years of age. Part of services provided by CDNTs and primary care services includes assessment for, prescription, provision and training for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (24 Oct 2024)

Pauline Tully: I thank the Minister. As an example, I was recently contacted by a parent whose eldest son is autistic and whose younger son has just been diagnosed as autistic. She is familiar with the needs of her children and describes her younger son as pre-verbal. He needs support now. She has contacted the CDNT about getting him the support he needs prior to him starting school, because it is going...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (24 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I can absolutely understand the frustration there, especially if her constituent is hearing the course is not full. That is hugely frustrating. Maybe the Deputy could drop a note to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and me and we could look to follow it up with the CHO to get some clarification and ensure this person is able to avail of the course as quickly as...