As I have outlined, the Department has been engaging with this school regarding its application for additional accommodation. While the provision of a general purpose room is outside the scope of the additional school accommodation scheme, the Department has liaised with the school regarding the potential provision of accommodation for children with special educational needs. As Deputy Harkin will appreciate, the provision of school places, including for children with special educational needs, is a priority for th…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I agree with that and with Deputy Barry's sentiments on how crucial migrant nurses are not only to our hospital system but also to our care system, more broadly speaking. Before I read my answer, which is important, I want to say I heard the media report this morning and it stopped me in my tracks. The small clip I heard was shocking, and I have since read the article. It is important that I read in this formal answer, and I genuinely thank Deputy Barry for raising the issue today. The …

I do not have the specifics on that. I will bring it back to the Minister to follow up on that as well. I indicated in my initial contribution that mandatory training was part of what was required in the HSE. I have an additional interest here. I am responsible for the national action plan against racism, so I will be delving into that a little bit further to see how thorough that is and to see who is captured by that mandatory training because it is not always everyone who does it. One of the weaknesses of the tra…

-----to diversity are the ones who go to it. Therefore, when it is not mandatory, it is a problem. When it is stated as mandatory, I would like to see how comprehensive that is. I am committing to the Deputy that I will find out more about that. Of course, training does not solve it either. Racism is deeper than that for many people. We have much work to do in that regard. With regard to the Deputy's question about the employment permit system, I worked with many people on a one-to-one casework basis who, in one wa…

Yes.

I thank Deputy Connolly for the question. Applicants for international protection who are awaiting a decision on their application are offered accommodation by the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Those who accept such accommodation are provided with material reception conditions, including food and health services, together with other facilities and services designed to ensure their needs are met while seeking the prot…

I thank Deputy Connolly. I understand the information she is looking for. I am here in my role with the Department of Social Protection. This Department's main role is administering the payment. I can state from my role in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth that funding has been secured for a new child payment. Beyond this, there is not a large amount I can give in detail. I gave the context of the habitual residence condition because it was not the case in the past and it was p…

Being honest, I only have limited information, and the key piece of information I have concerning the questions the Deputy is asking is that the budget has been allocated. Additionally, regarding vulnerability and the vulnerability of children, the Government has co-funded family support practitioners for those families living in IPAS accommodation to support the pathway for integrated community-based child and family support services. These practitioners provide support to improve quality of life for families by p…

We are coming towards the end of a review of the rural social scheme. There has been very intense engagement on it. I have attended a number of workshops and had a lot of discussions with supervisors, participants and the implementing bodies involved as well. It is an amazing scheme. I have seen what it does. It not only provides services and gives an opportunity for people to engage in their community, but it is a vital tool for mental health. A lot of single men in rural Ireland with small farms rely on it as the…

I want to open by calling for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to the current outbreak of hostilities in Gaza and Israel; the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages taken by Hamas; and the immediate turning back on of water and electricity to Gaza and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. I also want to condemn the horrific actions of Hamas on 7 October. But the unprecedented nature and scale of the horror of Hamas’s actions cannot and should not be treated as a carte blanche by the Israeli Gove…

As Minister of State with responsibility in three Departments, I will use my brief time to touch on some of the key budget 2024 measures in each of those Departments. Last year, with the outbreak of the Ukraine war, when Ukrainian families flowed into our communities throughout the country, the community and voluntary sector stood up to the plate. One of the key groups of organisations that reacted on the ground was the State's social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, implemented by local develop…

I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government's five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector, Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, was published in 2019. This is a whole-of-government strategy led by my Department, which is implemented collaboratively with the sector through the cross-sector group on local and community development. This strategy reaffirms the Government's commitment to supporting the sector, while also recognising the reality of finite resources and the need …

I am well aware of the issues with section 39 and other organisations whose main funding relationship is with other Government agencies and Departments. I would encourage both parties back to the table at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. I certainly have a role in government in terms of explaining and pushing the value of community and voluntary organisations with other Departments. We have an agreed approach across Government in terms of how we engage with the community and voluntary sector, and the values…

I appreciate the Deputy’s advocacy for those who need those services, which are invaluable. It has been made clear to me the practical difficulties that the pay differential is creating. I think they should be paid more and, within government, we believe they should be paid more. We have gone through the WRC process to land on an agreed figure. We are at an impasse at the moment, which is unfortunate, and I would urge everyone back to the table. These services are crucial and we need to recognise their value in gov…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The aim of community employment is to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. In addition, it helps long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. The general rule relating to eligibility for participation in community employment, CE, is that the person must be in receipt …

I thank the Deputy. We have to be careful if we are going to categorise a whole group of people as likely not able or eligible to go back into the mainstream workforce. We would have to be very careful if we were to do that, notwithstanding that there will be some cases, no doubt the Deputy has seen some himself, where that would be very difficult for an individual. A key strand of the Pathways to Work strategy, strand 5, is on working for all and leaving no one behind. This strand includes a focus on older workers…

The Deputy will be aware that, particularly over the last 18 months, that we have been highly responsive and adaptive to the needs of organisations who depend on CE and to the reality of the labour market itself. We have adapted and changed the eligibility for CE a number of times. We would like to see a little bit more evidence in terms of the definability and scale of the group as well but it is important to say that when Intreo officers across country sit down with someone, they develop a personal progression pl…

No, I take the Deputy's point but we are talking about potentially changing the eligibility for a whole scheme, where there are 18,000 people involved as well. We have to take policy changes with due consideration.

I thank the Deputy for the question. Matters relating to foster caring are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and of Tusla. This Government acknowledges the important role played by carers, including foster carers, and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, the current contributory State pension system provides measures including PRSI credits, homemaking disregards and home caring periods to recognise caring periods o…

I reiterate and back up what has been said about the important role played by foster carers, and also the difficult job they have at times, often with challenging young people. I have some familiarity with the system. A lot of what is being spoken about will go to the main Department with primary responsibility for foster carers' support. It is important to reiterate that between child benefit, the homemakers scheme, home caring periods and the new development for incapacitated dependants, this Department is doing …