Written Answers Nos. 449-469
449. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount spent by his Department on legal costs or legal services in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [5379/24]
View answerMy Department is preparing a response and will contact the Deputy as soon as possible.
450. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount spent by his Department on the procurement of office space and furniture and office IT equipment in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. [5397/24]
View answerOfficials in my Department are currently compiling the information as requested by the Deputy.
451. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current percentage of ELC SAC services that are contracted to provide ECCE only and ECCE/ NCS for 2023 and 2024, in tabular form. [5423/24]
View answerThe figures supplied by the scheme administrator Pobal in the table below show the percentage of services who only have an ECCE budget approval, the percentage of services who have both an ECCE and NCS budget approval and the percentage of services that only have an NCS approved budget for the programme years 2022/23 and 2023/24.
While some ELC services are only contracted with my Department for ECCE only it is possible that some may be offering childcare in a private capacity, without funding under other subsidy programmes funded by my Department.
|
Programme Year |
Total number of DCEDIY contracted ELC/SAC services |
Number of ELC/SAC services that only have an ECCE budget approval |
% of ELC/SAC services |
Number of ELC/SAC services that have both an ECCE and NCS budget approval |
% of ELC/SAC services |
Number of ELC/SAC services that only have an NCS budget approval |
% of ELC/SAC services |
|
2022/23 |
4,620 |
1,026 |
22.2% |
2,946 |
63.8% |
457 |
9.9% |
|
2023/24 |
4,671 |
910 |
19.4% |
2,996 |
64.1% |
636 |
13.6% |
452. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a proposal to use a property (details supplied) to provide emergency accommodation for persons seeking emergency protection or temporary accommodation has been received by his Department; If so the number of persons planned to be located at this property; the gender and age breakdown of the persons that are to be located at this property; when it is expected that they will be located at the property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5424/24]
View answerI thank the Deputy for her question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days. The Deputy may wish to be aware that the Community Engagement Team has been established within my Department which stands ready to respond to queries of this nature, and they may be contacted directly at community@equality.gov.ie .
453. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will increase the ECCE capitation grant to childcare providers to meet the additional cost of providing the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5440/24]
View answerMy Department funds private early learning and care service providers to provide the ECCE programme at a standard rate of €69 per week per child attending the ECCE programme. With the addition of the Core Funding Scheme in 2022, services providing ECCE who are also signed up to Core Funding receive a minimum of €79.20 per child per week in capitation. This figure can rise to a maximum of €95.85 with additional funding for graduate lead educators and graduate managers for sessional services. Core Funding is tailored to the individual service and is specifically designed to contribute to its operating costs and sustainability of the service making it a more flexible platform for investment towards the operating costs of services.
Core Funding in Year 1 – with an overall allocation of €259 million contributed to services’ sustainability and significantly increased income for the overwhelming majority of services while providing greater funding stability. For the small number of services, approximately 60 of the over 4,000 signed up, who saw no increase in their income through Core Funding, a funding guarantee applied. For Year 2 of Core Funding, the budget has increased by 11% to reach €287m, providing a sustainable platform for investment with increases for all services. This increase in funding allowed for the introduction of new targeted measures from September 2023 which are aimed at improving the sustainability of smaller and sessional services. These include a flat rate allocation of €4,075 for all sessional-only services, and a minimum base rate allocation of €8,150, which will benefit small, part time and school-age services.
Services that are experiencing difficulty and who would like support are encouraged to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to access case management supports. This case management process through the CCCs is the route to access additional sustainability funding if required.
Finally, I would note that I have appointed Stranmillis University College, Belfast to undertake an independent review of the ECCE programme. The review will assess whether the ECCE Programme is meeting its core objectives and will identify any changes or improvements that can be made to the Programme, based on international evidence and experience to date. The final report of the review is nearly complete, once it has been finalised I will consider the review in it’s entirety and consider any policy changes that may need to be made to the programme.
454. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for up-to-date figures on the number of people in County Mayo currently in the direct provision system; to list the type of accommodation international protection applicants are being housed in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5453/24]
View answer456. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number and location of each accommodation property in County Mayo for international protection applicants; the occupancy and contracted capacity of each centre and location in each of the approved accommodation categories, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5455/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 454 and 456 together.
I thank the Deputy for his question. A response will issue to the Deputy in the coming days.
455. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number and location of each accommodation property in County Mayo for beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine; the occupancy and contracted capacity of each centre and location in each of the approved accommodation categories, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5454/24]
View answerSince the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing the conflict who request it. To date, over 100,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTPs) have arrived in Ireland and over 75,000 of those have been referred to this Department seeking accommodation from the State.
My Department does not publicly detail the locations of such accommodation centres in the interest of the privacy and security of residents and providers. For the same reason, my Department also does not publicly detail the occupancy, contracted capacity and location of each centre.
The breakdown of the number of BOTPs by location is set out in the table below. It should be noted that the information provides an overview at a given point in time and is contingent on a number of factors that are subject to change including accommodation availability, providers in contract at any given time, configurations, transfers resulting from contracts ceasing, etc.
Please find latest figures by area below:
|
Areas |
BOTP Number |
|
BALLINA |
346 |
|
CASTLEBAR |
677 |
|
CLAREMORRIS |
303 |
|
FOXFORD |
207 |
|
WESTPORT |
899 |
|
Other areas including: ACHILL ISLAND, BALLA, BALLINDINE, BALLYHAUNIS, KEEL, KILLALA, KNOCK, NEWPORT, POLLAGH |
370 |
|
Total |
2802 |
457. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of persons from Ukraine who are being provided with accommodation by the State per county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5456/24]
View answerIreland is currently accommodating over 75,000 persons fleeing the conflict in Ukraine who have sought temporary protection from the State, both directly and through schemes such as offer a home or pledged accommodation. Intensive efforts are being undertaken daily by Department officials to source emergency accommodation. However, procuring enough bed space to support those that require such accommodation remains extremely challenging.
My Department publishes regular information on the accommodation of Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection by local authority, and this can be found at: gov.ie - Topics & Content BOTPs Accommodated by County and by LA (cloud.gov.ie)
Please find latest figures for each county below:
|
- |
|
|
County |
BOTP Number |
|
Carlow |
852 |
|
Cavan |
1246 |
|
Clare |
3829 |
|
Cork |
5896 |
|
Donegal |
5122 |
|
Dublin |
6767 |
|
Galway |
3596 |
|
Kerry |
7313 |
|
Kildare |
664 |
|
Kilkenny |
858 |
|
Laois |
572 |
|
Leitrim |
1088 |
|
Limerick |
2114 |
|
Longford |
354 |
|
Louth |
868 |
|
Mayo |
2802 |
|
Meath |
1925 |
|
Monaghan |
444 |
|
Offaly |
1399 |
|
Roscommon |
728 |
|
Sligo |
1766 |
|
Tipperary |
1655 |
|
Waterford |
1137 |
|
Westmeath |
1837 |
|
Wexford |
1994 |
|
Wicklow |
1507 |
|
Grand Total |
58,333 |
458. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of international protection applicants who are being provided with accommodation by the State per county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5457/24]
View answerIreland is now accommodating over 100,000 people between those fleeing Ukraine and International Protection (IP) applicants.
This includes almost 75,000 Ukrainian people who have sought accommodation from the State and almost 27,000 IP applicants currently in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation.
IPAS releases weekly statistics in relation to international protection (IP) applicants. This includes a per county breakdown of where IP applicants are residing. These statistics are located on the Gov.ie website: gov.ie - IPAS Statistics (www.gov.ie) .
Please see, in tabular format, the breakdown of where IP applicants are residing across the State, as at 28 January 2024.
|
County |
IP Applicants |
|
Carlow |
219 |
|
Cavan |
159 |
|
Clare |
727 |
|
Cork City |
622 |
|
Cork County |
991 |
|
Donegal |
1,674 |
|
Dublin City |
3,181 |
|
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown |
730 |
|
Fingal County |
2,429 |
|
Galway City Council |
1,118 |
|
Galway County Council |
167 |
|
Kerry |
792 |
|
Kildare |
773 |
|
Kilkenny |
147 |
|
Laois |
615 |
|
Leitrim |
87 |
|
Limerick City and County |
399 |
|
Longford |
143 |
|
Louth |
890 |
|
Mayo |
1,334 |
|
Meath |
908 |
|
Monaghan |
576 |
|
Offaly |
257 |
|
Roscommon |
194 |
|
Sligo |
429 |
|
South County Dublin |
3,345 |
|
Tipperary |
589 |
|
Waterford |
653 |
|
Westmeath |
830 |
|
Wexford |
583 |
|
Wicklow |
1,262 |
|
Total |
26,823 |
459. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures in place to ensure that parents who have no alternative but to enrol their child in a non-participating provider, continue to benefit from the subsidy towards their childcare costs, in view of the prospect of childcare providers in the first instance refusing to enter the core funding model scheme, or in the second instance exiting the core funding model scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5496/24]
View answerEarly learning and childcare providers offer a crucial service, however it must be noted that they are private entities. As such, it is a matter for each provider to decide whether they enter into any contractual arrangement with my Department – including Core Funding. It is important to note that 94% of services, over 4,300 services, have signed up to Core Funding and applications remain open.
However, an early learning and childcare service does not need to opt in to Core Funding in order to offer the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). Services contract separately on an annual basis to participate in the NCS. At present, over 3,695 early learning and childcare providers are contracted to offer the Scheme – an 8.3% increase on the previous year.
I do appreciate the difficulties caused when a parent’s preferred early learning and childcare provider does not engage with Core Funding. However, parents can still use their awarded subsidy to reduce the cost of childcare through any NCS registered provider. Similarly once a childcare service is taking part in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), parents can avail of the free universal two-year preschool programme regardless of whether the service has opted in to Core Funding.
A list of NCS participating services may be found on www.ncs.gov.ie/en/childcare-search/.
460. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of social work staff who are employed by the Adoption Authority of Ireland and by TUSLA’s National Adoption and Tracing Service, respectively, broken down by the number of staff at each grade. [5506/24]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked the Adoption Authority of Ireland and Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.
461. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures that are being taken to reduce the CDNT waiting list of the CHO5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5632/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will be aware that due to the ongoing industrial action by FORSA administrative and management grade staff in the HSE (which commenced on 6 October, 2023), delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations. The HSE has been engaged with Forsa through the auspices of the WRC in an effort to resolve the dispute but a resolution has not been reached as of yet.
462. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will examine a matter in relation to the case of a person (details supplied); and if there are any other resources or assistance which can be offered to this person and their parent. [5708/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will be aware that due to the ongoing industrial action by FORSA administrative and management grade staff in the HSE (which commenced on 6 October, 2023), delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations.
The HSE has been engaged with Forsa through the auspices of the WRC in an effort to resolve the dispute but a resolution has not been reached as of yet.
463. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when the information relating to programme income will be provided to preschools that are currently filling out their core funding applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5714/24]
View answerProviders that had an active Core Funding Contract during the 2022/2023 Programme Year must provide validated Financial Returns as per their Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement.
Following constructive engagement with members and nominees of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum (ELCSF), including Childhood Services Ireland (CSI), Childminding Ireland, Early Childhood Ireland (ECI), the Association of Childhood Professionals Ireland (ACPI), the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP), the National Childhood Network (NCN), the National Community Childcare Forum and Seas Suas, my officials have now finalised transitional arrangements for financial reporting to cover year 1 and year 2 of the scheme.
Financial reporting requirements in this transitional phase have been significantly simplified and streamlined. Specifically, in this transitional phase, the financial reporting requirement is for an income and expenditure report based on a significantly reduced set of Core Funding Chart of Accounts nominal codes, the sector has already been provided with the templates and guidance documents in relation to this.
This Income and Expenditure Report will need to be submitted onto an online reporting portal by either a qualified accountant from a registered practice or a registered professional (ACA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA) by March 22nd 2024.
My Department will be providing guidance to Partner Services in the coming weeks on how to access and upload the completed income and expenditure report. All early learning and childcare Department income information will be provided to the Partner Services through the financial reporting portal in the coming weeks.
My Department are also working on other supports for providers in preparing and submitting these returns, including training supports and targeted financial supports for those that may need it.
Officials from my Department will continue to engage with members and nominees of the ELCSF on this and have committed to continued engagement on future development to the financial reporting requirement under Core Funding from year 3 of the scheme.
464. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will look into a case of an assessment of need (details supplied) and corresponding complaint due to the statutory timeframe for an assessment not being met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5715/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will be aware that due to the ongoing industrial action by FORSA administrative and management grade staff in the HSE (which commenced on 6 October, 2023), delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations. The HSE has been engaged with Forsa through the auspices of the WRC in an effort to resolve the dispute but a resolution has not been reached as of yet.
465. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 486 of 30 January 2024, the position regarding any engagement that his Department has had with the owners of this childcare facility in relation to their financial position and proposed price increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5736/24]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that my Department has received further correspondence from this childcare facility stating that they have issued further correspondence to all concerned parents, informing them that any plans in relation to the introduction of food costings are currently on hold and to refrain from making any payments at this point in time.
Pobal and the local CCC are engaging with the childcare facility on this matter.
I welcome the childcare facilities decision to refrain from increasing their charges at this time and will continue to engage with and support the facility through Pobal and the CCC.
466. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Health if he could provide an update on a case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5062/24]
View answerIt is not possible in the time allowed to provide a comprehensive response to the question being asked. Therefore we are deferring a response until we get the information required to formulate a reply.
467. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health to outline any work undertaken by his Department on the development of lung cancer screening for high risk groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4922/24]
View answerAs Minister for Health, I am fully committed to supporting our population screening programmes which are a valuable part of our health service, enabling early treatment and care for many people, and improving the overall health of our population.
Any decisions about further changes or expansion of cancer screening, including the introduction of a lung cancer screening programme, will be made on the advice of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC). This independent expert group considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. It is important we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
I would stress to the Deputy that careful consideration must be given to any proposed expansion of Ireland’s screening programmes and that this process must be afforded the necessary amount of time to complete. In this regard, I am pleased to report that the Committee is already progressing work on the further expansion of our current cancer screening programmes. However, this expansion is currently focused on the age range eligibility for the BowelScreen and BreastCheck programmes.
The Committee holds Calls for Submissions, which invite all stakeholders, including members of the public, HSE and other medical professionals, to make proposals for the introduction of new population-based screening programmes or changes to existing programmes in Ireland. The Committee’s third Call for Submissions is currently open until 1 March 2024 and further information is available on the Committee's website at www.nsacommittee.ie.
Evidence received through the Call for Submissions will directly inform the prioritisation of conditions on the NSAC work programme. It is important to note that population health screening measures are not individual diagnostic tests. Screening is for people who do not have symptoms. Anyone who is worried about symptoms at any time is advised not to wait for screening but to contact their GP immediately, for appropriate follow-up care.
468. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the average daily running cost of an in-patient hospital bed in a model 1 hospital based on data from the HSE healthcare pricing office; the total number of beds in each model 1 hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4952/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
469. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the average daily running cost of an in-patient hospital bed in a model 2 hospital based on data from the HSE healthcare pricing office; the total number of beds in each model 2 hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4953/24]
View answer470. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the average daily running cost of an in-patient hospital bed in a model 3 hospital based on data from the HSE healthcare pricing office; the total number of beds in each model 3 hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4954/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 469 and 470 together.
As this is a service matter, I referred this question to the HSE for answer. Additionally, the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October 2023. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
