I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 98 together. Among the range of commitments in the programme for Government, addressing affordability in early learning and childcare is a priority for me. I am confident that work under way through First 5, including the national childcare scheme, NCS, and new funding model, will deliver on that. Annual investment in early learning and childcare has increased by 141% since 2015. This funding has been directed towards improving accessibility, quality and affordability. It has…

We are currently providing a €638 million investment in childcare. With that money, we have three core aims, which are affordability for parents; quality for the children in these services, which means ensuring that childcare professionals are well paid so that they continue to enhance and grow the care they are providing; and keeping services sustainable. When we see the amount of money we are providing and we see the dissatisfaction from parents, which the Deputies both spoke about, and when we hear the concerns …

One of the disadvantages of the system, which is a privately driven system, is that where there is a gap in provision in a geographic area, unlike in a primary or secondary school where the State steps in and sources a site, the State does not have the capacity to do that right now. It is about putting in place a funding model that supports new services and some of the organisational infrastructure that can co-ordinate that. We have city and county childcare committees at the moment. They do great work. The idea of…

Where a person or a family are in temporary emergency accommodation, the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, endeavours to move them to more suitable permanent accommodation in the shortest time possible, notwithstanding pressures on the IPAS accommodation portfolio. It is IPAS's policy to prioritise the movement of family units from emergency accommodation when suitable accommodation appropriate to their needs becomes available. In addition, IPAS is working towards all families being in some form…

I am aware of the case and I am grateful to Deputy Matthews for drawing it to my attention. It was a situation where there was a good story, with a family being moved from emergency accommodation in a hotel to own-door accommodation in another location, but they did not fully understand the positive nature of the move because of the lack of translation. I am aware of that and understand that we need to improve our engagement with residents, particularly where the English language is an issue. We have the Jesuit ref…

I thank both Senators for giving me the opportunity to provide an update on some of these matters. As they know, I received the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes on 30 October. As Senator Fitzpatrick mentioned, the report has been years in the making and survivors want to see it published soon. I share that wish. It is important that this report be published so that all of us can collectively understand better the experiences of the women who were in mother and baby homes and the …

I absolutely agree. I acknowledged during the debates on the database legislation that I had not done enough to engage with survivors. Since then, I have had approximately 40 calls with survivors, individuals and representative groups, which has given me a much greater perspective on the individual harm that was initially done in the mother and baby homes and how the treatment by the State over the years has magnified that harm. I am conscious of those issues and the need to bring forward legislation. It is an abso…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter - I know she raised it a number of days ago as well - and for giving me the opportunity to come back and speak directly to the House on the matter. I am happy to do so. I am aware of social media reports circulating on this matter, and some Deputies, including Deputy Niamh Smyth, have contacted me directly about these reports. To set the broader context, all accommodation centres are subject to regular unannounced inspections by both my officials in the International Prote…

It is important to say that all residents of direct provision centres are entitled to use the primary healthcare system and attend their local GPs. My Department makes provision for that. I do not wish to stray into the specific circumstances of the treatment of one individual - that would not be appropriate - but my Department and my office have been in contact, through IPAS, with the management of the centre in question to ensure that this gentleman gets the appropriate level of medical assistance. Every person i…

Yes, inspections have continued during Covid.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV. I am grateful for the heartfelt and genuine contributions from Deputies across the House. I had just joined the House when the first wave of Covid-19 restrictions were announced this year, and there was a concern shared by every Deputy and the general public at large about the restrictions' possible impact on people who were at risk of DSGBV, including the potentially volatile situations that lockdown created and t…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. We have not left young people out in our response to Covid. Young people have been central in the response not just of the Government but also of my Department. We are aware that Covid has disrupted all elements of life across the country and has had a particular impact on the well-being of young people. Their educational progress has been interrupted and, as the Senator said, their wider social and community life has been affected. Those who are early in their careers h…

I fully agree that investing in our youth is fundamentally important. I have outlined how my Department has done that and will continue to do that. I am always open to considering all avenues. We changed the public health guidelines to ensure that youth services could open even in level 5, albeit in small groups. I talked to a scout leader yesterday whose cubs had met for the first time in level 5, and that was because my Department had examined the matter and is aware that it is really tough for young people. We w…

I thank the Deputy for her query. I acknowledge the importance of the issue of access to the commission's archive, which is due to be deposited with my Department at the end of February 2021. I am committed to implementing fully the right of access under the GDPR for those who wish to access their personal information from that date. I can confirm that my Department will provide appropriate guidance for individuals in good time to assist persons wishing to access personal information from this archive when it trans…

The Deputy is absolutely right to say that survivors are essential to all of this. That is the key concern. As I acknowledged in my earlier contributions, I did not do enough to reach out to survivors prior to the introduction of this legislation. I am in the process of rectifying this. I have engaged with survivors this week, including today, and I will continue to do so. There will be a range of new responsibilities on my Department in light of the clarification the Attorney General has provided. I welcome these …

My intention when I brought this Bill forward was that it would be a specific item of legislation to resolve the issues of the database that was created by the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. I had hoped that this would be a discrete piece of legislation addressing a discrete and distinct legal issue. In my approach, what I lost sight of was that the issues around the mother and baby homes, and, indeed, the issues around all the major legacy issues that we have to deal with in the State, are…

There were a very significant number of contributions, so I will try to address the key points made by the various Senators. If I slip into repetition at all, I apologise. Senator Black read a very powerful letter from Councillor Timmons about his fear that what happened is being swept under the carpet. I absolutely acknowledge that, but that is the absolute last thing I want to see happen as Minister. It was stated that the Bill will seal records. It is really important to state that the Bill will not seal any rec…

I take that on board, but it is worth stating that the amendment came in following the introduction of GDPR. That is important. Section 39 was amended in 2018 to deal specifically with the introduction of GDPR. In light of that, the Attorney General has stated that I am bound by that as data controller and by the revised section 39 on responding to data access requests. I do not see that it is morally feasible that my Department can continue to refuse data access requests, specifically for personal information, as …

Dáil amendments Nos. 2 and 10 enable the commission to remain in existence beyond the submission of its final report. This is for the purpose of engaging with people who attended before the confidential committee in order to allow them to state their preference for anonymity where that is their wish. As such, the amendments are effectively consequential on amendment No. 9, which provides for this process of engagement. The amendments have the practical effect of separating the submission of the final report from th…

In response to Senator Boylan, I have not seen that report or what it has commented on, so I am not in a position to comment on it. I have been here with the Senators for the past period of time. Senator Bacik made the point that we are putting a delay in this Bill and the consequence and asked why not delay originally. Since coming to the Department my sense was that, for legitimate reasons outlined by the commission of investigation in its interim reports, this report had been delayed for too long and my goal was…