School Transport Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 December 2016

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Questions (32)

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

32. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the progress that has been made on the actions in pillar 1 of Rebuilding Ireland in which her Department has a role, particularly actions 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7; if free public transport has been provided for children to go to school, after school and community activities; if the safety guidance and voluntary code for child safety in emergency accommodation is in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39942/16]

Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

Earlier Deputy Rabbitte raised the issue of children who live in homeless accommodation. My question relates to that but is specific to pillar 1 of Rebuilding Ireland where a number of measures are actioned and it describes the owners of the actions. Tusla and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are included as owners in these three actions, including around transportation to school and other community activities and around a code of child safety in emergency accommodation.

Deputy Katherine Zappone

Along with my Government colleagues and all Members of this House, I am committed to supporting children and families who are living in emergency accommodation because they are homeless. We are making progress on the actions in Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. I wish our progress could be quicker and this is particularly the case as we approach Christmas, which will be stressful and challenging for families living in emergency accommodation. Deputy O’Sullivan’s question covers many different initiatives. I will attempt to answer as much as possible now and I will cover any additional questions in the supplementary answers. The Deputy has specifically asked about the free public transport for children to go to school, after school and community activities. In October, families received five 24 hour family Leap cards. These are valid for use on all Dublin transport systems, allowing for family days out at weekends or during holiday periods.

Arrangements are being finalised to provide Leap cards for children who need to use public transport to attend school. We expect these to be available in the new year and ideally as soon as possible after children return to school. There have been some challenges in designing these cards and I am happy to give the Deputy further details if she needs them.

In respect of the safety guidance voluntary code, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, DRHE, developed draft national quality standards for homeless services. Tusla was included in the membership of the advisory group which provided the feedback on the development of these standards. In addition, there is a joint protocol between Tusla and the DRHE governing child welfare and protection matters which is fully operational. It is planned to roll out a similar protocol in Limerick, Cork and Galway in 2017. It will need to be tailored to each area due to the different structures in place.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

On the various other actions under points 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7 we are also making progress. Tomorrow, I will be announcing details of a new programme to ease the burden of child care costs for homeless families. We have reached agreement on prioritising young people leaving care for the capital assistance scheme. Tusla is meeting tomorrow with a front-line provider to start work on a service level agreement to support pregnant women who are homeless. Research into the food and nutrition needs of families in emergency accommodation will be completed early in the New Year. I am happy to give more details on any of these initiatives to the Deputy.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

While I welcome the Leap cards for family outings, it is disappointing that the transport to school has not yet been actually arranged. From the timeframe given to us by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, the cards should have been available by now. Clearly, children must go to school so it is particularly urgent. Perhaps the Minister could explain some of the reasons that it has not happened by this stage. It has been quite a long time since that commitment was given. I ask also that the Minister gives a little more information about progress on the voluntary code of child safety, which is also an urgent element.

Deputy Katherine Zappone

I share Deputy Sullivan's concern about how long the free transport measure is taking. At my request, my officials have spoken with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, DRHE, to get more information on why it is taking so long to implement the scheme. They are anxious, I understand, to implement it as soon as possible. There are serious practical and logistical issues that must be worked out in conjunction with the National Transport Authority so the scheme can be rolled out fairly and safely. They hope to pilot the scheme from mid to late January for about four weeks and then implement it in full. This is to ensure that all concerns around identity, danger of fraud and misuse, and user friendliness for those eligible can be addressed. I can share a bit more information in that regard, as well as a reply to the Deputy's second question, the next time I take to my feet.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

Will the Minister indicate if the pilot scheme, to be rolled out after the four weeks, is for all the children or is it just for a group of the children? We have school transport for children in rural areas so I do not understand why it is such a difficulty to get this scheme put in place. Presumably we know who the children are and where they go to school.

Deputy Katherine Zappone

It is not about who and where are the children. I will go into a little more detail on some of the issues, as explained to me by the DRHE. With regard to identity and fraud, or misuse of cards, the cards must be used only by those who are eligible and each user must, therefore, be registered and the cards not transferred to someone else. There are some data protection concerns. The DRHE needs consent to have homeless families' details of individual children so as to estimate age, location, likely usage and the distance from hotel accommodation to school. Much of this can be addressed through information contained with consent as when the five Leap cards were issued. The system must also be user friendly. A system for topping up cards, including the amounts, which is normally done at source by card buyers, means that from an administrative point of view a judgment needs to be made. Some 90% of homeless families reside in the Dublin area. This is about helping as many people as possible and as quickly as possible so it will be rolled out through Dublin initially. In the Deputy's area of the mid-west, I understand there are 22 homeless families and I suggest that if children of families need to use public transport to get to school, an application should be made to the community welfare officer. I would be happy to lend my support to that application.