Results 641-660 of 1,041,227 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Dessie Ellis OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan)

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is important, while acknowledging the imperfections of how our system operates right now, that we always acknowledge the amazing work done in so many services all over the country, both community and private, in looking after our children and providing early learning and care. I believe there is a greater role for the State in the direct provision of early learning and care,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Gino Kenny: In terms of cost, childcare for some families is costing over €1,000 per month and that is cheap in some ways. That is a huge cost which is almost like a mortgage. What would the Minister consider a manageable fee if there is still a model where parents have to pay? Those costs should not be accepted. They are crippling for parents. While there are community-based crèches...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I hope I have demonstrated over the last four years my absolute determination to reduce costs. I have done that through the increases in the national childcare scheme, NCS. On average, we have been able to halve costs for parents. That has to be acknowledged. I would like to go further if I am part of the next Government. I will look to continue to go further but I caution on costs,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions (2 Oct 2024)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Enterprise Sector (2 Oct 2024)

Social Enterprise Sector

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Enterprise Sector (2 Oct 2024)

Claire Kerrane: 6. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will examine opportunities to use the social enterprise model when it comes to the roll-out of additional childcare facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38971/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Enterprise Sector (2 Oct 2024)

Claire Kerrane: This is to ask the Minister about the possibility of examining opportunities to use the social enterprise model. This is something we had put forward in our childcare plan and which should be looked at as a way to quickly build the capacity that is badly needed in the childcare sector.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Enterprise Sector (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: As outlined in the national social enterprise policy, Trading for Impact, social enterprises are enterprises whose objective is to achieve a social or environmental impact, rather than maximising profit for its owners or shareholders. That policy response recognises that the early learning and childcare sector includes many social enterprises. Indeed, there are more social enterprises in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Claire Kerrane: I thank the Minister. He has acknowledged the delays and such is the nature of applications. There are sometimes delays where additional information is needed or the applications need to be looked at again. How many people are dealing with the processing and issuing of these payments? I was recently contacted by a survivor who had received a letter to state they would be given the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. She has spoken about an enhancement to the roll-out of the scheme that has been put in place. It is important to recognise that we are looking to make this scheme as easy as possible for people to get the initial award of a payment, a medical card or both, and to draw down the benefit. The Deputy identified a slight lacuna. A resource is being put in place to address...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Mother and Baby Homes

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: 4. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will fund a physical survey of the estate of the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork city to locate the possible burial place of the more than 800 unaccounted for children who died in Bessborough or in hospital after being transferred from Bessborough; to outline any plans the Government has for this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: I ask the Minister if he will fund a physical survey of the estate of Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork city to locate the possible burial place of more than 800 children who are unaccounted for and who died in Bessborough or in hospital after being transferred from Bessborough. I ask him to outline plans the Government has for this site and to make a statement on the matter.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I am conscious of the hurt felt in particular by the survivors and family members of people who died in Bessborough. One of the most tragic aspects of what happened in that particular mother and baby institution was the uncertainty regarding the burial places of the many children who were resident there and the many children who we know died there and in some linked...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: We do not know the full extent of the infant deaths in Bessborough. The order's records are unreliable and its statements to the commission were nothing short of abject lies in an attempt to scramble away from justice. At least 928 babies died in Bessborough but only 64 graves have been identified. The Department of local government at the time chalked the scale of infant deaths down to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I have had the opportunity to visit the site at Bessborough with a number of survivors and former residents. I know there are differing views on the excavation and reburial of human remains at that site. When we discussed Tuam, there was absolute agreement about the treatment of remains and the State's response. I do not think there is unanimity about the response at...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: Sometimes it feels like there is a disconnect in respect of how the Minister speaks about this issue and the lived experience of people. I will give one example. In 1960, 18-year-old Madeleine Walsh was sent to Bessborough. Her baby son, William, fell ill when he was three days old and was taken from her. He died when he was six weeks old. After years of requests for information, she was...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: That is a really difficult question to answer. How do we seek some degree of agreement or alignment among survivors on a site when there are clear differences as to how to proceed? I will not lie to the Deputy; I do not have the full answer for her today. There are different groups of survivors represented in Tuam but I know from my engagement when I travelled to Tuam and met survivors...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Seán Sherlock: I appreciate that the Minister stated percentage increases but I do not see any hard figures. All of us in the Opposition rely on hard figures. I appreciate the point the Minister is making, if I am reading him correctly, that it is not possible to give an exact top-line figure for the number of people waiting. However, it is clear from the running theme in the questions so far this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (2 Oct 2024)

Roderic O'Gorman: Capacity is now our core challenge in early years. Four years ago when I became Minister, the challenge was staff pay, which remains a challenge. The challenge was also the cost of childcare for parents. We have done a lot to meet that. It is still too expensive for some parents but we have taken important steps. The challenge was the sustainability of providers. In year four, core...