Written Answers Nos. 989-1009
989. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps being taken to meet the financial and accommodation needs of a young person (details supplied) in full time education who is under the care of the State. [45924/13]
View answerI have requested the information from the HSE and I will revert to the Deputy when this information is to hand.
990. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of minors that have been reported missing from the care system in County Waterford in 2011 and 2012; to date in 2013; the number that were found and re-entered the system; the age profile and country of origin of these children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46005/13]
View answerI have requested the information from the HSE and I will revert to the Deputy when this information is to hand.
991. Deputy Dara Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to introduce any new child care regulations for child care facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46014/13]
View answerPre-school services are governed by Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991 and by the Child Care (Pre-School Services (No. 2) Regulations 2006. These Regulations are supported by explanatory notes which offer guidance and assist in interpreting the Regulations. New National Quality Standards for Pre-School Services will be launched before the end of the year. These new Standards will replace the explanatory notes and will set out the outcomes and supporting criteria against which the quality of child care services will be measured.
Legislation to strengthen the current inspection regime and underpin the Pre-School Quality Agenda is expected to be enacted before the end of the year. This legislation will provide a statutory basis for registration of pre-school services and will introduce a range of new enforcement powers for Inspectors at pre-prosecution level. Under the proposed new system, all pre-school services will have to be registered in order to operate. Inspectors will be empowered to specify improvement conditions that a service must comply with; and the threat of removal of registration will be available. This system will, for the first time, provide for timely and effective regulation and enforcement of standards in pre-school services, backed up by statutory registration.
It is my intention to introduce new qualification requirements for staff delivering child care in the pre-school sector and the new legislative changes will provide for this. This will be an important new development as, at present, staff working in child care services other than under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, are not subject to any requirement in respect of qualifications. The minimum requirement of Level 5 for pre-school leaders delivering the pre-school year will be increased to Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications of Ireland (NFQ). In addition, all pre-school assistants, and all other staff caring for children in a pre-school service, will be subject to a minimum requirement of Level 5. This requirement will be effective from September 2014 for new services, and from September 2015 for existing services.
The legislation will also provide for the regulation of after-school childcare services. I expect to be in position the commence the development of after-school regulations in 2014.
992. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 232 of 26 September 2013, the total number of social workers in the area of family support and child care services, or in relevant units, Departments or teams, however they may have been organised and named, for each of the years 2008 to 2012. [46037/13]
View answerI have requested the relevant information from the HSE and I will forward it directly to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.
993. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 232 of 26 September 2013, the number of vacancies arising in children and family services in 2012 that were considered by the National Employment Control Group; the number of such vacancies in which the group recommended that the vacancy be filled by recruitment; and the number of such cases in which that recruitment was approved and the vacancy subsequently filled. [46038/13]
View answerI have requested the relevant information from the HSE and I will forward it directly to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.
994. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 232 of 26 September 2013, the number of young persons who left care on reaching their 18th birthday during 2012 or during the nearest 12 month reporting period; the number of such young persons who began aftercare programmes; the number of such young persons who did not begin aftercare programmes; the number of such young persons who began aftercare programmes who subsequently disengaged from them; if she will provide any other statistical information available on aftercare, to include breakdown by type of aftercare package, by geography, by educational or employment attainment, for example the number of young persons in aftercare currently pursing third level education; the annual spend on aftercare; the average cost of an aftercare package; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46039/13]
View answerI have requested the information from the HSE and I will revert to the Deputy when this information is to hand.
995. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the name, qualifications and current salary of each political staff member appointed by her. [46082/13]
View answerAs requested by the Deputy, details of the name and current salary of each political staff member is set out in tabular format below. All Ministerial staff appointments made by me have been made in accordance with Instructions for Ministerial Appointments as published by the Department of Finance in April 2011. These instructions set specific conditions to be met in respect of such appointments including sanction of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and in addition sanction from An Taoiseach for appointments made from outside the civil service. In addition, there is a statutory requirement under the Public Service Management Act, 1997 to obtain the approval of the Government for the appointment of a Special Adviser.
The terms of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 apply to all Ministerial staff appointments, including Special Advisers. In accordance with these Acts a copy of the appointees' contracts of employment together with details of qualifications for Special Advisers whose remuneration exceeds the second long service increment salary (standard scale) of a higher executive officer in the civil service are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. In addition, the Acts provide for each individual appointee, with the exception of the grade of Civilian Driver, to make written statements of registerable interests which could materially influence the appointee in, or in relation to, the performance of official functions.
I am satisfied that all of the persons appointed by me are appropriately qualified to carry out their official functions.
|
Name |
Position Held |
Current Salary |
|
Marion Mannion |
Special Adviser |
€81,676 |
|
William Lavelle |
Special Adviser (0.5 WTE) |
€40,838 |
|
Olaf Gill |
Personal Assistant |
€43,715 |
|
Meágan Ní Chúirc |
Personal Secretary |
€26,980 |
996. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in the event of an adopted person successfully tracing his or her birth mother and the identity being known to him or her, the reason he or she cannot be given a copy of his or her adoption file; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46166/13]
View answerWork is continuing in relation to the preparation of the Heads of Bill of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. My view is that persons affected by adoption should be provided with a statutory right to as much information as possible within permissible Constitutional boundaries. The constitutional and legal context within which the development of legislative proposals must be undertaken is complex. This has influenced the existing approach to access to information which, while subject to significant development in recent years, has heretofore operated based upon the consent of all the parties. The proposed legislation is intended to provide for a structured and regulated approach for applicants seeking access to adoption information and is also intended to facilitate contact between parties affected by adoption, including in circumstances where an adoption order was not effected.
Complex legal and Constitutional issues have arisen during the course of preparation of the Heads of Bill including the setting of criteria for balancing an adopted person's right to information about his or her identity as against a birth parent's right to privacy. This is a particular challenge in considering the impact on individuals in respect of adoptions which took place in the past where the concept of confidentiality and privacy were very central in the adoption process. These issues are currently receiving careful examination and detailed consideration is underway on the part of my Department and the Office of the Attorney General.
I am anxious to bring the Heads of Bill before Government at the earliest possible date. Again, my view is that persons affected by adoption should be provided with a statutory right to as much information as permissible within Constitutional boundaries. However, there are undoubtedly challenges remaining in developing a workable framework which respects the Constitutional rights of all parties. I remain committed to achieving my policy objectives notwithstanding these challenges.
997. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason the Health Service Executive is not making a report readily available to the person to whom it directly pertains; if she will have this report (details supplied) published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46341/13]
View answerI have requested the information from the HSE and I will revert to the Deputy when this information is to hand.
998. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if there is any grant scheme available through her Department to assist youth clubs with ongoing running costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46425/13]
View answerThe Youth Affairs Unit of my Department supports the delivery of a range of youth work programmes and services for all young people, including those from disadvantaged communities, by the voluntary youth sector.
My Department provides funding for a Local Youth Club Grant Scheme which supports youth work activities at a local level (€1.035m in 2013). These grants are made available to all youth clubs and groups through the Education Training Boards (ETB).
The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department has notified all ETBs of the 2013 allocations available to them to provide support to local youth clubs.
Further information concerning this funding is available from the relevant ETB.
999. Deputy Noel Coonan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when an application for a playground grant will be finalised in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Tipperary. [46488/13]
View answerMy Department has a funding provision of €500,000 in respect of National Lottery Funding for 2013 and the closing date for applications was 18 October 2013. Over 600 applications, totalling over €7.5m, were received and the school to which the Deputy refers is one of these applications. As the volume of applications far exceeds the available resources it may not be possible to assist all applications. The assessment process is ongoing and all applicants will be informed of the outcome as soon as final decisions have been made.
1000. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide, in tabular form for the years 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013, the number of children in the care of the State; and if she will provide a breakdown of the care orders which underpinned the first placement of these children in care in each of those years, including voluntary care orders, emergency care orders, interim care orders and special care orders. [46587/13]
View answerI have requested the information from the HSE and I will revert to the Deputy when this information is to hand.
1001. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of social workers employed in the Community Care Area 8 in the years 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; the number of vacant posts in this area at present; and if these vacancies will be filled as soon as possible. [46614/13]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is as follows:
|
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
September 2013 |
|
40.2 |
45.44 |
50.14 |
48.11 |
I am advised by the HSE that there are four vacancies. These vacancies are currently being processed by the HSE National Recruitment Service which has received approval to fill them from the national social work panel.
1002. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding the request of a person (details supplied) in County Cork to defer their child's early childhood care and education year until 2014. [46856/13]
View answerNo formal application for deferral was received in relation to the child referred to. However, his parent was in touch with my Department and I understand that he has been granted an exemption on the basis of special needs to avail of the programme over two years on a pro-rata basis, as requested by his parent(s), and that he is now attending pre-school for 3 days per week.
1003. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding an application under the national lottery grant scheme in respect of an organisation (details supplied) in County Donegal; when a decision will issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46993/13]
View answerMy Department has a funding provision of €500,000 in respect of National Lottery Funding for 2013 and the closing date for applications was the 18th October 2013. Over 600 applications, totalling over €7.5m, were received and the organisation to which the Deputy refers is one of these applications. As the volume of applications far exceeds the available resources it may not be possible to assist all applications. The assessment process is ongoing and all applicants will be informed of the outcome as soon as final decisions have been made.
1004. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if legislation will be amended, retrospectively, to allow families who hold declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt issued prior to 31 October 2010, and who already have referrals of children in the Russian Federation, to proceed with their stalled Russian adoptions, as previously indicated. [47038/13]
View answerI am aware that a small number of applicants who were at a late stage in adopting from Russia when the changes to Russian legislation were enacted were unable to complete these adoptions before 31 October, 2013 as the Section 63 declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt expired on that date. Since this issue was brought to my attention, officials in my Department have been seeking a way to address the problems due to the sudden change in Russian legislation.
It is my understanding that in order to adopt from Russia it is necessary to have a valid declaration of eligibility and suitability to adopt on the date of the court hearing to finalise the adoption, and for a specified period thereafter before the Court order takes effect. In order that those affected could continue with their adoption, which was stopped by this change in Russian law, an amendment to the Adoption Act, 2010, would be necessary.
The advice of the Attorney General has been sought and I understand that in principle it is possible to enact legislation which could retrospectively extend the period of validity to declarations. As the Adoption Act, 2010, is drafted on the basis of the incorporation of the Hague Convention and the minimum set of standards outlined therein, the implications of amending the Act must be carefully examined before I make a decision to amend the legislation. My Department, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, is examining if it is possible to address this situation within the parameters of Irish law and the Constitution.
1005. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of adoptions that went through an agency (details supplied) in County Galway; where the records of these adoptions are held; and if her attention has been drawn to any complaints of children being unlawfully taken from their mothers for adoption from this unit. [47049/13]
View answerAs this is a service matter for which the HSE has responsibility, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy.
1006. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide, in tabular form, the partial year and the full year monetary effect of the Department's budget 2014 reductions in expenditure. [47072/13]
View answerThe Estimate provision for my Department in 2014 amounts to €449 million. This level of investment demonstrates that, while operating within difficult Budgetary constraints, this Government is strongly committed to delivering important reforms and service developments to support Ireland’s children and families.
In relation to the specific question asked by the Deputy, my Department will continue to implement savings in 2014 to programme areas identified in the 2011 Comprehensive Review of Expenditure (CRE). To the greatest extent possible, these are being achieved through increased operating efficiencies and value-for-money to protect frontline services. The table below sets out the full year impact of the savings to be achieved in 2014:
|
- |
Savings in 2014 €m |
|
Youth Programmes |
3.0 |
|
School Completion programme |
1.7 |
|
National Longitudinal Study |
1.0 |
|
National Children's Strategy and Other Programmes |
0.4 |
|
Early Intervention Programme |
0.8 |
|
Family Support Agency |
2.1 |
|
Total |
9.0 |
In tandem with this approach, additional funding in 2014 has been secured to:
Support reform of child welfare and protection services;
Scaling back of overall reduction in Youth services;
Implement a preschool quality agenda; and
Address child poverty through the Area Based Childhood programme.
1007. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health the steps that have been taken to monitor the levels of radiation in food and fish from Japan as a result of the Fukushima radiation leaks. [45719/13]
View answerFollowing the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011, the European Commission introduced safeguard controls on all imported feed and food products originating in or consigned from Japan. These controls included the testing of all feed and food prior to export from Japan and the provision of a declaration from the Japanese authorities attesting that the product did not exceed the EU's maximum permitted levels of radionuclides. In addition, such products are also subject to random testing in the EU.
The above safeguard measures have been reviewed and amended a number of times taking into account the most up to date occurrence data provided by the Japanese authorities on radioactivity in feed and food and imposed controls continue in accordance with these amendments. Officials from my Department attend regular meetings at EU level to ensure that we are kept fully informed of all international developments in this area.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has advised me that the amount of foodstuffs imported from Japan is minuscule. Notwithstanding this however, the FSAI is in constant contact with all the relevant agencies involved in import controls (including the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and the HSE) to ensure that imports from the affected areas of Japan are monitored for levels of radiation.
1008. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health if the measure announced in budget 2014 is discriminating against married couples with the new medical card eligibility criteria (details supplied); the reason for the bias towards a single person's income thus discriminating against those who are married. [45726/13]
View answer1018. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Health the reason the new income limits for medical cards of €900 for a married couple over 70 is not double the single person over 70 limit of €500, as it used to be; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47183/13]
View answer1040. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Minister for Health further to the recently announced changes in the income limits of the over 70s medical card, the reason the change has been disproportionately larger for married couples, down to €900 from €1,200, as opposed to €500 from €600 for a single person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45705/13]
View answer1094. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the reason the medical card income guidelines announced as part of budget 2014 no longer assess the combined income of a married or co-habiting couple as double that of a single person in view of the fact other household compositions such as siblings sharing a home remain unaffected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46113/13]
View answer1106. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health his views on whether older married couples are being discriminated against under the new medical card qualification terms, as unmarried couples have a ceiling of €1,000 per week and married couples have a ceiling of €900 per week; if he will consider changing the terms so that married couples and unmarried couples qualify for medical cards based on the same income ceiling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46182/13]
View answer1206. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will consider increasing the income limits in respect of medical cards for the over 70s for a couple to €1,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46795/13]
View answer1234. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Health the rationale for the difference in the medical card cut-off point of €500 for a single person and €900 for a couple; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46889/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1008, 1018, 1040, 1094, 1106, 1206 and 1234 together.
The Government recognises that the living costs of an individual living alone are more than half the living costs of a couple living together and that expenditure does not necessarily diminish relative to the number of people in the household. This is recognised, inter alia, through the provision of the Living Alone Increase and differential income limits for medical cards for persons aged under 70 years between individuals and couples.
In that context, the over-70s income limit for a single person has been reduced proportionately less than the income limit for a couple.
1009. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Health if an application for a medical card in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15 can be expedited; the reason for the delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45751/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.
