Tuesday, 14 Jun 2016

Written Answers Nos. 635-656

Social Workers Recruitment

Questions (635)

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

635. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of social workers currently required and that will be required in the next five to ten years to ensure that all necessary children and cases have a social worker allocated to them, with a manageable workload that allows for quality assessments and care plan implementation; the resources she will make available to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency to increase its staff and to reduce its ratios; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15358/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

Workforce planning is an essential tool for anticipating possible future developments and maintaining a well-structured workforce of an appropriate size, which is able to meet the changing needs of the public service in a cost-efficient manner. Tusla is currently engaged in developing its Workforce Planning capacity and has prepared an initial medium term analysis of social work resource requirements covering the period 2016 - 2018. No analysis of resource requirement beyond this has yet been conducted.

In that analysis, Tusla identified a requirement for a net increase of 268 social workers to address risk associated with unallocated cases. This process has already begun with additional funding of €6.1m provided in Budget 2016. Additional funding over the period 2017, 2018 and beyond will form part of the overall estimates process in each relevant year.

Regarding unallocated cases, I can assure the Deputy that, as additional social work resources are being put in place, all urgent and emergency child protection cases are dealt with immediately. Cases that are unallocated are closely monitored, supported and managed by the duty social work team under the supervision of the principal social worker. Cases are subject to on-going reviews and where appropriate, the level and nature of support being provided will change depending on the needs of the child.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (636)

Clare Daly

Question:

636. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of money her Department spent on purchasing copies of the Public Sector Times magazine in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15411/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs did not incur any expenditure in relation to the Public Sector Times Magazine in 2015.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (637)

Clare Daly

Question:

637. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of money spent on daily newspapers in 2015; if this is an appropriate expenditure given the far cheaper online alternatives available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15427/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The information is in the table.

Publication	No. Purchased
Irish Times	2 per day
Irish Independent	2 per day
The Examiner	2 per day
The Star	2 per day
The Sun	2 per day
Daily Mirror	2 per day
The Herald	2 per day
Daily Mail	2 per day

The amount paid in 2015 by my Department in respect of daily newspapers was €2819.71. These newspapers were supplied to my office and my Department's Press Office.

While I am aware of the range of online facilities available, and indeed my Department utilises some online news facilities, it is important to keep abreast of issues pertaining both to my Department's activities and to the Government of which I am a member.

Departmental Staff Data

Questions (638, 640)

Clare Daly

Question:

638. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of staff working in her human resources section. [15443/16]

Clare Daly

Question:

640. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the changes in the numbers employed in her human resources section following the introduction of PeoplePoint. [15475/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

I propose to take Questions Nos. 638 and 640 together.

The Human Resources Unit of my Department has 11.23 whole-time equivalent staff assigned to it and has responsibility for managing the internal HR corporate function, including organisational design, workforce planning and learning & development. The HR Unit also has an external governance and oversight role relating to the agencies under its aegis with regard to public sector HR policies and procedures. The establishment of Tusla - the Child and Family Agency in 2014 has seen the external focus of the Unit change in scale i.e. from 327 whole time equivalent public servants at the end of 2013 to over 3,842 at end March 2016.

The Department has 164 whole-time equivalents directly employed by it at present. During 2013, Peoplepoint took over responsibility for many of the day to day transactional HR activities related to direct employees. This has led to a reduction of one whole-time equivalent assigned to managing internal operational related HR activities.

Ministerial Staff

Questions (639)

Clare Daly

Question:

639. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of staff who work exclusively on constituency matters for her. [15459/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

At present there are two civil service members of staff working exclusively on constituency matters. In addition to this, I also have a Personal Assistant who also works on constituency matters on my behalf.

Question No. 640 answered with Question No. 638.

Child Care Services Provision

Questions (641)

Niall Collins

Question:

641. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is aware of the potential closure of a company (details supplied); if she will assist in averting its closure; her responsibility when she becomes aware of the potential closure of such a company; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15649/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The childcare facilities in question have been operated as private limited companies and my Department was made aware of the impending closure of these services late on Thursday June 2nd. My Department is aware of the difficulties the closures of the three Tic Toc Nursery Services have imposed on families and on staff who work there.

My Department funds 30 City and County Childcare Committees around Ireland to assist both parents and childcare providers in matters relating to childcare. In response to the closure of Tic Toc, Limerick County Childcare Committee immediately carried out an assessment of local availability of childcare places in other services in the proximity of the affected services and it is working with parents to assist them in making alternative childcare arrangements.

The Department understands that all children registered in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) free pre-school year at the three Tic Toc services have received their full entitlement for the 2015-2016 year. This represents the vast majority of children registered in the impacted services.

My Department is keen to ensure that the areas served by the Tic Toc facilities continue to have access to childcare. Where it is possible for replacement services to be established at, or close to, the sites in question, my Department, the CCC and Pobal will provide all possible assistance to potential new management. My Department understands that some preliminary discussions have already taken place in this regard.

My Department is working with the childcare sector to prepare for the significant expansion to pre-school provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme announced in Budget 2016, commencing September 2016. The Department is in the process of rolling out a number of measures to increase the supply of ECCE places across Ireland from that time. This expansion will see the number of children benefitting from the Programme rise from around 67,000 to around 127,000 in a given programme year. From September 2016 both the standard and higher rates of capitation for the ECCE programme will increase by €2 per child, per week; and the rules relating to higher capitation rates will also be reformed to enable more services to benefit from the higher rate.

My Department made detailed information available to the CCCs at the beginning of this year indicating the number of children, by every electoral division across the country, who would be eligible for an ECCE place in September 2016, January 2017 and April 2017. The Department is working closely with the CCCs, including Limerick, to match this data against reported capacity in the sector to meet the increase in demand, and to develop action plans for areas where a shortfall in supply may be identified.

Departmental Funding

Questions (642)

Jonathan O'Brien

Question:

642. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the annual funding that was previously provided for a centre (details supplied) which has since been withdrawn; and the cost of reinstating this at appropriate levels. [15650/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

My Department provided funding of €300,000 for the Barnardos/One Family Child Contact Centres pilot project over a period of two years, i.e. from mid 2011 to mid 2013. Additional funding was provided by the Health Service Executive (€60,000), the Family Support Agency (€90,000) and Ballymun Regeneration (€90,000). This service was established on a pilot basis in 2011. Based on international experience, the intention was to test a model of service aimed at meeting the needs of children whose parents are separated and/or who are in care regarding contact with the non-custodial parent(s). The funding provided allowed the service to operate on a pilot basis in three locations in Dublin i.e. Ballymun, Clondalkin and Tallaght.

The pilot project was due to close at the end of July 2013. However, following successful engagement by Barnardos and One Family with the Family Support Agency (FSA) and other funders, additional funding was allocated to allow the service continue to December 2013. The Family Support Agency provided an additional €31,800 in this regard. Due to budget restrictions, the FSA were unable to continue funding the service beyond December 2013. Currently Family Resource Centres are used as venues for such contact and arrangements are made locally. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the Family Resource Centre Programme budget for 2016, it was not possible to commit funding to the Barnardos/One Family Child Contact Centres this year.

It is worth noting that the families to be targeted included those involved in private family law proceedings or otherwise experiencing family breakdown as well as families where there were disputes regarding contact between non-custodial parents. The final evaluation report recommended that an integrated response by my Department, the Department of Justice and Equality, supported by their relevant agencies (i.e. The Child and Family Agency, the Courts Service, the Probation Service, the Legal Aid Board, the Family Mediation Service and COSC) would be the best approach to progressing the recommendations. I intend raising the matter with my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality to suggest we review the evaluation report in light of the changing infrastructural arrangements such as the establishment of Tusla and the proposed Family Courts Service and to examine the potential for advancing further consideration of the Final Evaluation Report's recommendations in that context.

Adoption Records Provision

Questions (643)

John McGuinness

Question:

643. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the assistance she can provide to a person (details supplied) in obtaining records on adoptions; if she will review certain correspondence; if Tusla, the Child and Family Agency will meet with the persons concerned; and if legislation is required to deal with such matters. [15747/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The issue referred to by the Deputy is a matter for Tusla the Child and Family Agency and I have asked them to reply to the Deputy directly.

Employment Rights

Questions (644)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

644. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to introduce guidelines to protect child care workers in sporadic employment. [14842/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The terms and conditions of employment in the early years sector are matters to be agreed between employer and employee. My Department makes no recommendations in relation to these matters.

I have raised this issue with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI), within whose remit the issue of employment rights falls, and I understand that Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation protects all employees who are legally employed on an employer-employee basis. Therefore, once it is clear that a person is working under a contract of employment (written or verbal), on a full-time or part-time basis, that person has the same protection under employment law as other employees.

Anyone with concerns regarding employment rights can contact the Workplace Relations Customer Service and Information Unit which provides information on employment, equality & industrial relations legislation. It can be contacted at Lo-call: 1890 80 80 90 or via its website www.workplacerelations.ie.

Company Closures

Questions (645)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

645. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is aware that the rehabilitation facility in County Kilkenny is to close on 30 June 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15984/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

I am not aware of the issue referred to by the Deputy.

Early Childhood Care and Education

Questions (646)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

646. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is aware of the community child care facilities in County Clare that closed without notice in February 2016; the compensation measures she has put in place to assist children who have now missed out on their early childhood care and education scheme year as a result; and the status in this regard. [15985/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

My Department implements a number of childcare support programmes including the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme and the Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programmes. Pobal works closely with this Department in implementing these programmes and undertakes a compliance process to verify, through on-site visits, that the conditions of the various programmes are being complied with. Pobal also carries out audits at the request of the Department.

Following an audit of the West Clare Early Years (WCEY) Group, Pobal submitted a report to West Clare Early Years (WCEY) in November 2015. This report identified major governance issues and the need for repayment of over-claimed childcare funding. The Board of WCEY accepted the findings of the report and, at a meeting with Pobal on February 10th, agreed to prepare an action plan to resolve the situation. However, the Board of WCEY subsequently took a decision on February 13th to liquidate the company and to close the childcare services under its management with immediate effect. Neither the Department nor Pobal were consulted about the decision to liquidate.

Since that time, Pobal and Clare County Childcare Committee have been working intensively on behalf of my Department to implement sustainable solutions that will restore childcare provision in West Clare. As a result of this collaborative engagement, the majority of these services have now re-opened. Details surrounding the re-opening of services are as follows:

- Kilmihill Community Development School - opened 14 March 2016 with ECCE and CCS children in attendance and they have received payments in respect of both programmes.

- Kildysart Kidz - opened 4 April 2016 and they have received payment is respect of ECCE, CEC and CCS programmes.

- Lissycasey Laugh and Learn - opened 12 April 2016 and they have received payments in respect of ECCE and CCS programmes.

- Cairde Beaga Kilrush/ Cairde Beaga Kilkee (Both under Clare Local Development Company - CLDC) - Opened 13 June 2016. ECCE, CCS and TEC contracts for CLDC have been activated.

It has been agreed that services may extend their ECCE provision so that all children may avail of their full entitlement for the 2015/2016 year (i.e. 183 days).

In addition, an addendum to the Clare County Childcare Committee contract, for intensive support work with the West Clare services, was agreed to ensure services had the appropriate level of assistance during the early stages of service restoration.

Child and Family Agency

Questions (647)

Mattie McGrath

Question:

647. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 684 of 8 June 2016, to provide the salary and remuneration packages of the board of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency over the past three years; if it is proposed that any member of the board of Tusla will exceed the general pay ceiling of €200,000 for future appointments to higher positions across the public service in 2016 to 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16022/16]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, provides for the appointment of a nine person Board consisting of a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson and seven ordinary members all appointed by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency does not provide a salary and remuneration package for Board members. However, the fees payable to Tusla Board members who qualify for such payment are as follows:

- Chairperson - €20,520

- Ordinary Member - €11,970.

It should be noted that on appointment, all Board members are provided with the option to waive fees. In addition to this, in line with the 'One Person One Salary' principle, no public servant is entitled to receive remuneration in the form of board fees, save for situations that are provided for in statute.

Garda Vetting of Personnel

Questions (648)

Lisa Chambers

Question:

648. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason for the long delays in Garda Síochána clearance of persons (details supplied); the progress of these applications; and when persons will receive a decision. [15384/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

Applicants to the Reserve Defence Force are vetted by the Garda Central Vetting Unit as part of the recruitment process. Processing times for vetting of applications on average can take up to 12 weeks. The Deputy will appreciate that, in some cases, additional enquiries may be necessary and this may result in processing times in excess of the average. For security and operational reasons the Defence Forces cannot comment on vetting processes in individual cases.

Defence Forces Recruitment

Questions (649)

Lisa Chambers

Question:

649. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of applications to join the Reserve Defence Force; the number who completed the fitness test; the number of those who passed the fitness test; the number who completed the interview; the number who applied for Garda clearance; the number who received Garda clearance and within what timeframe they received it; the number who went on to complete medicals; the number who eventually enlisted and when they enlisted, by brigade and gender, in each of the years from 2014 to 31 May 2016 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15385/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

I am aware that awaited material as indicated in responses to other similar questions asked by the Deputy are outstanding and the Department has raised the matter with the relevant military authorities. I am informed that the Defence Forces are currently collating the awaited material. It is the intention to provide the awaited material to the Deputy shortly.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (650)

Clare Daly

Question:

650. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of money his Department spent on purchasing copies of the Public Sector Times magazine in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15413/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

There is no charge to Government Departments for the supply of this publication.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (651)

Clare Daly

Question:

651. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of money spent on daily newspapers in 2015; if this is an appropriate expenditure given the far cheaper online alternatives available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15429/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

The Department of Defence spent €7,164.65 on daily newspapers in 2015. A review of expenditure on newspapers was conducted in 2014 and expenditure in this area continues to be monitored closely by the Department of Defence.

Departmental Staff Data

Questions (652)

Clare Daly

Question:

652. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of staff working in his human resources section. [15445/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

The number of staff employed in the Department’s Human Resources Branch is 13.53 whole time equivalents.

This number is kept under constant review by the Department of Defence.

Ministerial Staff

Questions (653)

Clare Daly

Question:

653. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of staff who work exclusively on constituency matters for him. [15461/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

The Minister of State at the Department of Defence currently has no civil servants assigned to his office who work exclusively on constituency matters for him. The Minister of State’s constituency office is staffed by his Personal Assistant and Personal Secretary who are assigned to the Minister of State by the Oireachtas.

Departmental Staff Data

Questions (654)

Clare Daly

Question:

654. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the changes in the numbers employed in his human resources section following the introduction of PeoplePoint. [15477/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

The number of staff employed in the Department’s Human Resources Branch immediately prior to the transition of transactional HR matters to PeoplePoint was 15.53 whole time equivalents. Following the transition to PeoplePoint the number of staff now employed in HR is 13.53 whole time equivalents, a reduction of 2.

This number is kept under constant review by the Department of Defence.

Defence Forces Medicinal Products

Questions (655)

Clare Daly

Question:

655. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 308 of 2 June 2016, the reason he cannot obtain the information sought from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (details supplied). [15551/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

Summary information in respect of notifications of infectious diseases is available from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on their website. However, issues may arise in regard to the accuracy of such data in respect of Defence Force personnel, as situations may arise where the status of the individual as a member of the Defence Forces was either not recorded or not declared.

While members of the Defence Forces are encouraged to present to the military medical system, they may opt to present to a civilian general practitioner who may not be aware that they are a member of the Defence Forces. Equally, there may be members of the Defence Forces who contracted malaria while on holidays in other areas where risk of malaria exists.

Therefore, the Defence Forces are not in a position to corroborate the figures collected by the HPSC attributed to Defence Force personnel.

Defence Forces Recruitment

Questions (656)

Tony McLoughlin

Question:

656. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will accept applications in his recruitment to the Defence Forces from students who have not completed their studies but who wish to do so and then join the Army; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15656/16]

Written answers

Taoiseach and Minister for Defence

Induction into a Cadetship in the Permanent Defence Force cannot be deferred if a candidate has not completed their studies successfully. However, applications for all categories of Cadetships are invited from persons who have applied to sit for examinations in the competition year as will enable them to satisfy the minimum educational qualifications criteria. Original documentary evidence that a candidate meets the minimum educational qualifications must be presented to the relevant Interview Board Secretary on a date as specified in the Competition Terms & Conditions.

For General Service recruitment, no formal education qualifications are required to join the Defence Forces. However, applicants must satisfy the Interview Board and the Recruiting Officer that they possess a sufficient standard of education for service in the Permanent Defence Force.

The Government is committed to maintaining the stabilised strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service as stated in the 2015 White Paper on Defence. The manpower requirement of the Defence Forces is monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with the operational requirements of each of the three services, the establishment of the Permanent Defence Force and available resources.