I know from my own engagement with survivors over the past months that respectful treatment of burial grounds is an issue of great sensitivity. In response to the final report of the commission on mother and baby homes, the Government has committed to a strategic action plan encompassing a wide-ranging suite of 22 actions. These actions include advancing legislation to support the excavation, exhumation and dignified reburial of remains where interments are manifestly inappropriate and where their preservation in t…

I absolutely agree. I am not suggesting for a moment that we should place that obligation on families. I did not see a reference to development plans in the Deputy's question so I apologise if my answer was more on the national level that the specific level. The Deputy is absolutely right. We have seen a number of local authorities respond to the report of the commission quite proactively through the issuing of apologies. Many of the mother and baby institutions, particularly the county home institutions, were dire…

The Deputy is absolutely correct. Particularly in the context of county homes, a sample of four county homes was looked at specifically but all of the county homes are referenced in the appendix to the commission's report. We are clear that they are all included when it comes to the commission's recommendations. As the Deputy will know, among the 22 action points there is a specific recommendation with regard to local memorialisation. We will be working in conjunction with the Department of Housing, Local Governmen…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 28, 40, 52 and 81 together. They are all on this topic. I believe I have some additional time if the questions are grouped in this way. I thank the Deputy for the question. As he will know, the Government published a White Paper at the end of February in which the new approach to accommodating applicants for international protection in Ireland is set out. This approach will replace the current system of direct provision. I am committed to the new approach being in place by the en…

In terms of processing time, working is ongoing in the Department of Justice. Significant additional resources have been put into a better IT system but also to put in place additional staff to speed up the processing time at first instance and the appeal stage. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is committed to delivering in that regard. On the question raised by Deputy Gino Kenny, I have not encountered resistance. Rather, I have received support from all elements of Government towards the de…

I am fully aware of how difficult that life in limbo is for residents, having engaged with individuals living in direct provision and the groups representing them. This is why we have a commitment to have someone on the programme board who has gone through the system and will feed back directly into the work being undertaken. In response to Deputy Ó Cathasaigh's earlier question, I outlined some of the points on processing. I will say that as soon as the Catherine Day report was published last October, the Departme…

I will start by paying particular tribute to the work that family resource centres have been providing since the outbreak of Covid-19. I was pleased to see some very effective and innovative work undertaken by them in that time. Recently, I met representatives of the Family Resource Centre National Forum again, and it described at first-hand the surge in demand for these services, and how the centres have responded. I deeply admire their commitment and dedication to their local communities. Tusla provides core budg…

The issue of the specific funding stream for counselling services was one we discussed when I met the representative group three weeks ago. We provided €6 million last year and €6 million this year to support these services. I will continue to examine the matter. I am aware of the importance of the low-cost early intervention services they provide, particularly because of their locations. They are accessible to people who might be using other services in the family resource centres and who might not have the same d…

I thank the Deputy. The funding that comes from my Department through Tusla is fixed and allocated so family resource centres can rely on it. It is always less than family resource centres want and it is less than the need out there but our set of funding is fixed. It is important to remember that family resource centres respond to the needs in their area, so what the Deputy has identified in Cashel with regard to the needs of the local community may be different from the needs being provided for in Mountview in my…

I recognise that the Deputy and others have been highlighting the impact of the recent cyberattack on the HSE's servers and Tusla's ability to support vulnerable children. I have been deeply engaged with Tusla since the attack occurred. As the Deputy referenced, she participated in a briefing for relevant spokespersons from political parties with the chief executive officer of Tusla. We provided a full overview of the issues involved. The CEO of Tusla was also in touch with the Chair of the Oireachtas joint committ…

Tusla has absolutely not been forgotten. It has been at the centre of my focus and the Government's focus. I have been to a number of meetings on the Government's wider response to the cyberattack with the Ministers to whom Deputy Whitmore referred, namely, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, the Minister for Justice, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth. As I said, I am in almost daily…

I do not have current figures relating to the impact on referrals. I will ask Tusla to provide that information to me and I would be happy to pass it on to the Deputy. The Deputy is absolutely right about the impact on Tusla staff. They have really risen to the challenge during the pandemic. I think Tusla was one of the quickest social work agencies in Europe to move to working from home. All staff were supplied with laptops. Those laptops now have to be rebooted due to this attack. That is taking place. Tusla has …

First 5, the national ten-year strategy for babies and young children and their families, commits to maintain and extend the supply of high-quality, publicly subsidised early learning and care and childcare to best serve the developmental needs of babies and young children, ensuring that it also reflects the needs and preferences of parents and families. In this context, my Department closely monitors developments regarding capacity for both early learning and care, ELC, and school-age childcare, SAC. Before the on…

The Deputy's point on choice and location is important. Under the planning codes, when a housing estate of a particular scale is built, there is a requirement to put in childcare places. In my area in Dublin 15, I have been disappointed too often by developers trying to subsequently get the childcare facility rezoned and sell it on for housing units. That is disappointing because we all know there is demand. I take with a pinch of salt the argument put forward by some developers that no one would take up this parti…

The Deputy will be aware that we have set up the process to initiate a joint labour committee to get a wage order in the sector. That will be important. I wrote to the Deputy's party colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, about that. That process has been initiated and we hope it will provide the pay the childcare professionals deserve. We are also working on the workforce development plan to give professional recognition to those who work in childcare. This will ensure there are clear career path…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 92 together. Accommodation centres are currently subject to regular unannounced inspections by both officials in the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, and by an independent inspectorate company, QTS Limited. These inspections are generally undertaken twice yearly by my officials in IPAS and once yearly by QTS Limited. Inspections cover a wide range of issues, including food quality, fire safety, appropriate signage and information for residents, as well as…

The Deputy stated the importance of getting back to in-person inspections by IPAS officials. As soon as public health restrictions allow for that to take place, it will continue. Services provided on a voluntary basis by the friends of the direct provision groups have been impacted solely because of public health restrictions. Those involved in providing important supports have not been able to get into direct provision centres. As soon as public health restrictions allow for that to take place, we will see it reco…

My key intention in terms of accommodation is to end the use of emergency direct provision centres which are primarily hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. We will be undertaking a round of procurement later on this summer for new accommodation. That will be centred on the idea of own-door and own-room accommodation. Particularly in the context of own-door accommodation, we will have a situation where people will be provided with cooking facilities. I know not being able to cook for themselves is a major con…

I welcome the opportunity to come before the House to discuss this incredibly important issue. I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising the matter and I acknowledge her own work on it. Since its formation, the Government has made clear that tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a key priority. A range of measures to tackle this has been outlined in the programme for Government. It contains a commitment to investigate the provision of paid leave and social protection provision to victims of domestic viol…

I strongly disagree with the Deputy's comments on the priority that my Department has placed on this issue. She named a number of individual employers which are bringing in schemes. I absolutely welcome this and commend their work. However, we are looking at a scheme that will be statutorily applicable across all employers. That is a much bigger order of magnitude. It is important we put in the proper research and engagement with all relevant stakeholders to ensure we get the process right. We have done this in a t…