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Wednesday, 18 Sep 2013

Written Answers Nos. 1262-1279

Preschool Services

Questions (1263)

Seán Kyne

Question:

1263. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if evaluations for the pre-school educational year are taking place; if the results of such evaluations will be made available to the public to assist parents in making childcare decisions and to provide information to taxpayers. [38096/13]

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Written answers

The free pre-school year commenced in January 2010, so this year is only the third full year of operation. At this very early stage, there has been no formal evaluation of its operation. There has been considerable anecdotal evidence from school principals, the National Education and Welfare Board and parents of the effectiveness of the year in preparing children for school. These views are in line with international evidence on the importance of pre-school education.

Within Growing Up in Ireland, Ireland's longitudinal study of children and young people, data is currently being collected on five year olds. One of the ways that this data will be used is to develop an understanding of how the pre-school year is working. This research will be made available widely when it is finalised.

The Child Care Regulations, under which creches are inspected, focus on the welfare and well being of children, rather than specifically on education. As I have stated before, there are a number of reforms of our inspection system underway, including the introduction of registration, harmonisation of approach nationally and the introduction of National Standards on which inspections will be based. When those reforms have been implemented a major review of the regulations will take place with a view to ensuring that they reflect all aspects of children's care and education and that they incorporate the principles of both Aistear, the national curriculum framework for children aged 0-6 and Siolta, the national quality framework. In this context, in 2012 a pilot joint inspection between the HSE and the Department of Education and Skills Inspectorate took place, which looked at both welfare and wellbeing and education. My Department continues to work closely with the Department of Education and Skills to develop the regulations, standards and tools that will be required to develop and implement a new inspection regime.

Results of inspections of individual services will continue to be made available on line.

Question No. 1264 answered with Question No. 1239.

Budget 2014

Questions (1265)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

1265. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to change the level of funding currently allocated to the family resource centre programme in Budget 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38577/13]

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Written answers

Funding requirements and how resources should be prioritised and allocated across each area of Government spending are generally considered as part of the annual estimates cycle and budgetary process. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time on any future decisions that may be taken by Government in the context of Budget 2014 on the expenditure allocation for this or any programmes falling within the Vote of my Department.

Question No. 1266 answered with Question No. 1257.
Question No. 1267 answered with Question No. 1250.

Adoption Services Provision

Questions (1268)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

1268. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will indicate the adoption ratio, the number of individuals/couples making themselves available to adopt compared with the number of successful adoptions for each Health Service Executive region in 2012 and 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38758/13]

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Written answers

The information sought by the Deputy is not collated in the manner requested. The Adoption Authority does not break down declarations issued or adoptions registered by HSE region. In addition, the declarations issued in a particular year, for both domestic and intercountry adoption, bear no relation to the adoptions registered in that year, both domestic and intercountry adoptions. The Adoption Authority publishes statistics in relation to its activity on the website www.aai.gov.ie.

Foster Care Policy

Questions (1269)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

1269. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average age of successful foster carer applicants when first fostering for each Health Service Executive region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38760/13]

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Written answers

All prospective foster carers or applicants undergo an assessment and training process to establish their suitability and competence as future foster carers. The assessment is undertaken by a social worker from the local fostering team and includes Garda vetting, internal HSE checks to establish previous involvement with child protection services, a medical assessment, personal interviews in the applicant’s home and if the applicant(s) have children, the social worker will also talk to them about being part of a foster family. The social worker's report is then presented to the Foster Care committee for approval, including a recommendation as to the age of the child and type of foster care suitable to the applicant(s). All approved foster carers are entered on a panel of approved foster carers.

The HSE has advised me that data on the average age of foster carers is not collected. The HSE national policy recommends that there should be no more than a forty year age gap between prospective carers and the children to be placed with them. As applicants should be of sufficient maturity to take on the responsibility of foster care, it is recommended that a lower age limit of 25 years should apply.

Exceptions can be made, for example, where there is an established attachment between the child and carer, as is often the case in relative care and in conversion from short-term to long-term fostering, in the case of sibling groups or for other clinical considerations. Exceptions can also be made for relative carers who may be in a position to care for a younger sibling. The paramount consideration is the interests of the child balanced with the likelihood of the applicant being in a position to provide good foster care as outlined in the criteria for acceptance.

Domestic Adoptions

Questions (1270)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

1270. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average age of applicants for the adoption of children when first granted an adoption broken down by Health Service Executive region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38761/13]

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Written answers

I am advised by the Adoption Authority of Ireland that there is a significant difference between the average ages of domestic adopters compared to those adopting from outside the State. Since the enactment of the Adoption Act, 2010 (1 November 2010), adopters within Ireland have all been aged between 35-45 years (100%), while the majority of applicants adopting from abroad are aged between 40-51 years (73.3%). The figures show that 40.7% of people who undertake intercountry adoption are over the age of 45 years, while there are no domestic adopters in this age group. Furthermore, a small number of adopters from abroad are aged over 50 (5.4%).

Domestic Adoptions

Questions (1271)

David Stanton

Question:

1271. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of Section 63 Declarations under the Adoption Act 2010 which are currently active; the number of these who have received a referral of a child; the number of Section 63 Declaration holders who are renewing their declarations through the Section 40 Declaration process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38795/13]

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Written answers

The HSE advises that as of the 1st of March 2013 the number of Declarations of Eligibility and Suitability (DES) issued under Section 63 of the Act which were still to be acted upon was 370. In March the HSE wrote to these Section 63 DES holders to invite them to apply for an assessment as part of the application for a DES which would be issued under Section 40 of the Act, and 161 of these applicants applied. The Adoption Authority advises that a further 35 registrations of adoptions have been made from 1 March to 10 September 2013, with a further 4 applications to register on hand. Accordingly, there is a balance of 170 holders of Section 63 DES. While a number of applicants may no longer be interested in continuing the intercountry adoption process for a variety of reasons, a portion of these 170 outstanding DES holders may be in the process of trying to finalise adoptions. I have been advised that a very small number of applicants are currently at a late stage in the process of finalising adoptions from Russia.

Semi-State Bodies Remuneration

Questions (1272)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

1272. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full year saving to the Exchequer if all commercial semi State CEO's pay under the aegis of her Department were reduced by 10%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39258/13]

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Written answers

There are no commercial semi State Agencies under the aegis of my Department.

Semi-State Bodies Remuneration

Questions (1273)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

1273. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full year saving to the Exchequer if all non-commercial State sponsored bodies CEO salaries under the aegis of her Department were reduced by 10%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39267/13]

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Written answers

I would like to inform the Deputy there are four agencies which are funded by the Exchequer through my Department's Vote. These are the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI); the Family Support Agency (FSA); the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) and the Ombudsman for Children's Office (OCO). With effect from 1 January 2012, I have taken responsibility for the Children Detention Schools as provided in Part 10 of the Children Act 2001.

I have set out in tabular format below the current annual salaries payable to the Chief Executive Officers of non commercial State sponsored bodies under the aegis of my Department.

I can confirm that based on the CEO salaries as set out beneath there would be an annual saving of €25,795.20 if the salaries were to be reduced by 10%.

Agency/Body

Current Remuneration

National Educational Welfare Board*

€52,335

Family Support Agency

Acting CEO €80,700

Adoption Authority of Ireland

€124,917

Ombudsman for Children’s Office

No CEO

Children Detention Schools

No CEO

*The current interim CEO is a retired civil servant and voluntarily agreed to abate his salary.

Departmental Agencies Board Remuneration

Questions (1274)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

1274. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full year saving to the Exchequer if all State agency board members fees, non-commercial State sponsored bodies and commercial semi-State companies, under the aegis of her Department were reduced by 25%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39277/13]

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Written answers

I would like to inform the Deputy there are four agencies which are funded by the Exchequer through my Department's Vote. These are the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI); the Family Support Agency (FSA); the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) and the Ombudsman for Children's Office (OCO). With effect from 1 January 2012, I have taken responsibility for the Children Detention Schools as provided in Part 10 of the Children Act 2001. I am responsible for all Board appointments.

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office does not have a board.

I can confirm that the annual saving to the Exchequer if all board members fees under the remit of my Department were reduced by 25% is €38,454.50.

Health Services Staff Recruitment

Questions (1275)

Dara Murphy

Question:

1275. Deputy Dara Murphy asked the Minister for Health when recruitment will begin within the Health Service Executive for speech and language therapists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37063/13]

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Written answers

In March 2013, I issued approval to the HSE to commence recruitment to Primary Care Teams with immediate effect of 251 Primary Care posts, which included 47 Speech and Language Therapists. The recruitment process is at an advanced stage and it is the intention to have these posts filled by the end of this year.

In August this year, a further 13.5 Primary Care posts were approved of which 5 are Speech and Language Therapist posts and these are now being progressed in addition to the 47 posts above.

Alcohol Pricing

Questions (1276, 1278, 1352)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

1276. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if the Government is considering banning sports sponsorship by alcohol companies and replacing the lost revenue by imposing further special taxes on alcohol or providing Exchequer grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37182/13]

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Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

1278. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the proposals he has to take action to introduce evidence based measures such as minimum pricing to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37300/13]

View answer

Denis Naughten

Question:

1352. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37460/13]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1276, 1278 and 1352 together.

Proposals are currently being finalised on foot of the recommendations in the Steering Group Report on a National Substance Misuse Strategy 2012. These proposals cover all of the areas mentioned in the report, including legislation on minimum unit pricing; controls on alcohol advertising and sponsorship - and any attended impact on the revenue streams of organisations; labelling of alcohol products; measures on access and availability of alcohol and a social responsibility levy on the drinks industry.

The Cabinet Committee on Social Policy has considered these proposals and it is intended to bring forward a finalised package of proposals for consideration by Government shortly.

In the meantime, work on developing a framework for the necessary Department of Health legislation is continuing. A health impact assessment has been commissioned in conjunction with Northern Ireland as part of the process of developing a legislative basis for minimum unit pricing. The health impact assessment will study the impact of different minimum prices on a range of areas such as health, crime and likely economic impact.

Dental Services Provision

Questions (1277)

Robert Troy

Question:

1277. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if she will address the severe lack of appropriate dental care for children in the Castleblaney/Broomfield area of County Monaghan (details supplied). [37264/13]

View answer

Written answers

The HSE is responsible for providing dental care to schoolchildren. The matter has therefore been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Question No. 1278 answered with Question No. 1276.
Question No. 1279 withdrawn.
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