Written Answers Nos. 149-155
149. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the device planted outside the Widow Scallan's pub on 21 of May 1994 was a viable explosive device; and if she has considered the implications of this information. [42034/15]
View answer150. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the device found on a Dublin Belfast train in September 1994 was a viable explosive device; and if she has considered the implications of this information. [42035/15]
View answer151. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the device found in Dundalk in County Louth on 25 May 1997 was a viable explosive device; and if she has considered the implications of this information. [42036/15]
View answer152. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the device found outside the Sinn Féin office in Monaghan on 2 March 1997 was primed to explode; and if she has considered the implications of this information. [42037/15]
View answer153. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the device planted at Dublin Airport in May 1996 was a viable explosive device; and if she has considered the implications of this information. [42038/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 149 to 153, inclusive, together.
I am aware of the incidents to which the Deputy refers in her question.
I would say at the outset that these incidents took place in the context of a period in the history of this island involving campaigns of violence undertaken by paramilitary groups. Many people lost their lives over the course of the Troubles and many suffered terrible injuries as a direct result of that paramilitary violence. Our thoughts are with the victims of violence and their families.
The devices to which the Deputy refers were viable improvised explosive devices and they were all attributed to loyalist paramilitaries. They were unjustified and unacceptable attempts to cause death, injury or damage and, or course, to terrorise. Thankfully no serious injuries resulted from these devices. However, we should recall that one man, Martin Doherty, lost his life having been shot by those who placed the bomb at the Widow Scallan's pub.
I am informed by the Garda Authorities that these incidents were the subject of full investigations at the time at which they occurred and that those criminal investigations remain open.
154. Deputy Pat Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason the entitlement for the second preschool year excludes children born after 30 June 2012; if there are any plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42007/15]
View answerAt present, children qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year. This means, for example, that children born between 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2012 qualified for free pre-school from September 2015. Children who turn 3 from 1 July 2012 are below the age range for eligibility for ECCE in the 2015/2016 programme year but will qualify for the 2016/17 programme year.
In Budget 2016 it was announced that, from September 2016, children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they turn age 3, and can continue in free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the relevant pre-school year i.e. end June).
This extension of free pre-school will increase the number of children benefiting from free pre-school from about 67,000 per annum, to 127,000 in a given programme year. Accommodating this increase requires a significant increase in capacity in the pre-school sector; pre-school services need time to consider and implement any needed infrastructural or service changes, and to put in place extra staff resources. The September 2016 implementation date was set to allow pre-school providers to put such measures in place.
It is appreciated that this does mean that a small cohort of children, including those mentioned by the Deputy, while continuing to avail of the 38 week entitlement to free pre-school currently provided under the ECCE programme, will not benefit from additional free pre-school provided under this new budgetary measure. However, should an earlier start date have been chosen, the likelihood is that there would not have been sufficient capacity in the sector to accommodate all children.
However, you will appreciate that this extended provision, when introduced, will ensure that, from the age of three, all children in Ireland will be able to access free education, either in pre-school or in primary school. This is a significant step forward for children and families.
155. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will list all new State agencies or bodies established under the aegis of his Department since March 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41872/15]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency, is the only agency established by my Department since the Department itself was established in June 2011.
Tusla was established on 1st January 2014 under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. It has statutory responsibility for services previously provided by the National Educational Welfare Board, the Family Support Agency and Children and Family Services previously delivered by the HSE. In addition it has responsibility for domestic and sexual violence services, certain psychological welfare services, and preschool inspection services. The coming together under one Agency of such a range of services provided an opportunity to streamline those services and to ensure a more effective co-ordination and delivery of same.
