Written Answers Nos. 295-304
295. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of commissions of inquiry or other formal investigations or inquiries being conducted in her Department; the name of these; the date they were established; the expected date the work is intended to be completed; the cost incurred to date; the estimated final cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6361/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am interpreting the Deputy’s question to relate to ongoing statutory enquiries or investigations. No such enquiries or investigations are currently being conducted in my Department.
296. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when she expects Dáil Éireann to discuss and vote on the trade deal CETA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3099/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraCETA was adopted by Council of the European Union and signed by Canada, the EU and its Member States at the EU-Canada Summit on 30 October. The European Parliament vote on CETA is provisionally scheduled for 15 February 2017.
Should the Parliament give its consent, the agreement will be provisionally applied. The provisions in CETA relating to investment protection and investment dispute resolution will be excluded from provisional application.
The full entering into force of the agreement will be subject to a Council decision with the consent of the European Parliament and by the approval of all Member States through the relevant national ratification procedures. This means that Dáil Eireann will be part of the final decision to ratify the agreement.
My view is that it is important to wait to see the benefits of CETA come into being, before CETA is put before the Dáil for ratification. Then we can have a fully informed debate based on real facts and evidence. I will be working with Enterprise Ireland and Business Groups to ensure that Irish firms take early advantage of the terms of this Agreement. In this context I have prioritised a trade mission to Canada in the first half of this year.
297. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the total number of young persons that have been assessed as currently requiring an aftercare worker, by county; the total number of young persons that have yet to be allocated same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6157/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the current National Leaving and Aftercare Policy of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, all young people leaving care who have been in care for 12 months on their 16th birthday or for 12 consecutive months prior to their 18th birthday are entitled to an aftercare plan. Tusla is currently reviewing their operational National Leaving and Aftercare Policy in line with the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015.
Data provided by Tusla (table 1) show that during Quarter 3, 2016 approximately 152 young people were discharged from care by reason of turning 18. Of these, 98% were assessed as being eligible for an aftercare service (149) and 88% were availing of the aftercare service (131). 87% of those discharged had an aftercare worker (132).
Table 1: Aftercare Data Q2 2016 - Q3 2016
|
AREA |
No discharged Q3 2016 |
No discharged eligible for aftercare Q3 2016 |
No availing of an aftercare service Q3 2016 |
No with allocated aftercare worker Q3 2016 |
% with allocated aftercare worker Q3 2016 |
|
Dublin South Central |
13 |
12 |
7 |
7 |
54% |
|
Dublin South East/ Wicklow |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
100% |
|
Dublin South West /Kildare/West Wicklow |
8 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
63% |
|
Midlands |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
100% |
|
Dublin North City |
12 |
12 |
6 |
6 |
50% |
|
Dublin North |
25 |
25 |
23 |
23 |
92% |
|
Louth/Meath |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
100% |
|
Cavan/ Monaghan |
5 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
100% |
|
Cork |
22 |
22 |
21 |
21 |
95% |
|
Kerry |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
100% |
|
Carlow/Kilkenny/ South Tipperary |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
50% |
|
Waterford/ Wexford |
8 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
88% |
|
Midwest |
13 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
100% |
|
Galway/ Roscommon |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
100% |
|
Mayo |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
100% |
|
Donegal |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
100% |
|
Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
100% |
|
Total |
152 |
149 |
131 |
132 |
87% |
The transition to independent adulthood can be challenging for many young people and a key factor in achieving success is ensuring that assessment, preparation and planning for leaving care begins in the years prior to leaving care and continues as part of the care planning process. This work is based on collaboration with the young person, their carers and partner agencies to generate an aftercare plan that is specific to the individual young person's needs. Advice, guidance, support and signposting are key elements of the supports available to care leavers.
For those young people who are not in training or education, aftercare services have a key role in providing support to them in liaising with the relevant departments and agencies in accessing financial assistance, employment opportunities, training or supporting them to return to education. Those who are unemployed, and not engaged in training or education, can apply for jobseeker's allowance from the Department of Social Protection. The jobseeker's allowance payable to care leavers is the full rate and not the reduced rate normally payable to those under 25.
At the end of September 2016, there were 1,841 young people aged 18 to 22 years in receipt of an aftercare service, with 54% (1,001) in full-time education or training.
298. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her Department is working on risk assessments for every homeless child; the mental health monitoring that is taking place for children experiencing homelessness; if free counselling or other mental health interventions are being made available to the 2,505 homeless children across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6219/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile my Department and Tusla have no responsibility in relation to mental health services, I would like to inform the Deputy of Tusla’s response, relevant to this area.
A child, irrespective of accommodation status, who comes to the attention of Tusla and whose circumstances are such, will, where the appropriate threshold has been reached, have an assessment carried out by a social worker.
Where Tusla has concerns regarding the welfare and development of a child, due to parenting difficulties or adverse environmental factors, they will provide family supports to assist the family and child.
If during the course of an assessment the social worker forms the view that a further mental health assessment is required an appropriate referral will be made for the child in question. Social workers do not carry out mental health assessments nor monitor mental health. Mental health service provision, in a similar vein, is not the responsibility of Tusla. As with other therapeutic and general medical services, Tusla relies on other State agencies for the delivery of the appropriate support.
Policy in relation to mental health and associated service provision is a matter for the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive respectively, who may be able to provide further and particular information to the Deputy.
299. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding an application for the funding of a youth project (details supplied). [6228/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Youth Affairs Unit of my Department provides a range of funding schemes, programmes and supports to the youth sector. Funding of €51m for current expenditure is available from my Department in 2016 to support the provision of youth services and programmes to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people. It is estimated that the voluntary youth services involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working throughout the country.
Budget 2017 has provided an additional €5.5m in current funding to my Department to support the provision of youth services. This will bring the total youth funding in 2017 to €57.4m. This additional funding will be used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people and to assist national youth organisations in their work to support local voluntary youth services. My Department has commenced the process with national organisations and local services to identify service development needs for 2017 and to agree the 2017 allocations.
The Deputy will be aware that a number of funding schemes supporting youth services were the subject of a Value for Money and Policy Review in 2014. The review involved an in-depth scrutiny of the impact youth service provision has on young people’s lives. The review made a number of recommendations for the future operation of the youth schemes and their development in the years ahead.
Work on the development of a new funding scheme has been prioritised by my Department and consultations with youth services are continuing with a view to introducing the new youth funding programme in line with the review over the coming years.
My Department has embarked on an exercise, in conjunction with Pobal and each Education and Training Board (ETB) Youth Officer, which will map youth service provision across the State. This mapping exercise will assist my Department and the relevant ETB in developing a detailed socio-demographic profile in terms of both population numbers and deprivation levels. It is my intention that this mapping exercise will inform future development and investment in youth services, including areas such as Mitchelstown.
300. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the date to which she is operating to for the notification of each area-based childhood project of their funding for 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6308/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme is a prevention and early intervention initiative led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The ABC Programme commenced in 2013 and is a time-bound co-funding arrangement of €29.7m for the period 2013 to 2017 in conjunction with The Atlantic Philanthropies.
All sites are currently in contract for 2017 and operating according to their agreed budgets for 2017. Due to contractual arrangements, each of the existing 13 sites is scheduled to come to the end of their contracts at various points throughout 2017.
My department secured an additional €4.5million in Budget 2016 to extend all of the existing ABC Programme to the end of December 2017, bringing the total investment to €34.2 million. This means that sites being granted an extension to their original contract, may require additional funding.
To ascertain this, my Department requested that the ABC Programme Managers provide the Department with revised financial projections and information on the cyclical nature (including costs) of the various interventions/programmes implemented by each Area. The information currently to hand does not fully indicate the additional funding required by these sites. The programme managers will now be requesting additional detail from each site and, once received, it is expected that funding allocations can be agreed upon and all ABC areas notified by end February.
I look forward to the continued engagement of all ABC sites with my Department in 2017 as we work towards the implementation of quality prevention and early intervention initiatives in order to achieve our shared goal of improving the lives of children and families throughout the country.
301. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of commissions of inquiry or other formal investigations or inquiries being conducted in her Department; the name of these; the date they were established; the expected date the work is intended to be completed; the cost incurred to date; the estimated final cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6350/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table.
|
Commissions of Investigation |
Name |
Date of Establishment |
Cost to Date:(to 06/02/2017) |
Expected Date of Conclusion |
Estimated Final Cost |
|
1 |
Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters) |
17th of February 2015 |
€4.1 million. This includes set-up costs and costs incurred by DCYA in supporting the Commission |
The Commission is required to complete a final report no later than February 2018 |
Due to the nature of the investigative process it is not possible to provide an estimate of final costs at this time. |
302. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the procedures in place at Casement Aerodrome regarding customs and excise and passport controls; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6304/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Customs Service are facilitated in conducting screening for departures and arrivals to Casement Aerodrome when they so choose. There is a designated area within the Aerodrome for this purpose. All flights carrying Defence Forces personnel returning from overseas deployment through Casement Aerodrome are met and processed by the Customs Service on the base.
303. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the Defence Forces have written policies and procedures in place for dealing with whistleblowers; and if so, if he will publish same. [6307/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Defence Forces has a written policy and procedure in place in relation to protected disclosures. The policy is outlined in General Routine Order, 07 of 2015, “Defence Forces Policy in relation to Protected Disclosures” which was signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) and came into effect in August 2015.
This policy applies to all members of the Defence Forces, civilian employees, trainees, apprentices and interns. The policy applies to both current and past members of the Defence Forces and those at the recruitment stage.
The policy is available to all Defence Force personnel on the Defence Forces internal network web page, retired Defence Forces personnel, civilian employees and to members of the public on request.
Following publication of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s final Guidance for Public Bodies on the Performance of their Functions under section 21(1) of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 in 2016, a joint review of the Defence Forces and Department of Defence protected disclosures policies is underway and work to develop a single policy for the Defence Organisation is at an advanced stage.
304. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of commissions of inquiry or other formal investigations or inquiries being conducted in his Department; the name of these; the date they were established; the expected date the work is intended to be completed; the cost incurred to date; the estimated final cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6354/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraNo Commissions of Investigation have been established by my Department since the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 came into effect. In 2016 my Department paid a total of €23,954 to senior counsel in respect of a personnel investigation pertaining to the Defence Forces. In addition, professional assistance has been engaged in relation to a second ongoing personnel investigation pertaining to the Defence Forces but has not yet been the subject of an invoice or payment.
