I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I recognise his ongoing interest in this and the survivors who are with us in the House today. Officials from my Department continue to liaise with St. John Ambulance Ireland with regard to the recommendations arising from the independent review report by Dr. Shannon that St. John Ambulance Ireland commissioned. My officials are scheduled to meet officials from St. John Ambulance on 11 December to discuss the progress on the implementation of recommendations made by Dr. Sh…

I will try to address two elements, the first of which is the issue of funding. As the Deputy knows, St. John Ambulance is not getting anything from my Department. Previously, I had said it was not getting anything from the State, but I have corrected the record and written to the Oireachtas joint committee in respect of the fact it did get significant one-off funding during Covid from a number of Covid funds, and it has also got some funding from local authorities. Nevertheless, it continues to receive no direct f…

I thank the Ombudsman for Children for the special report published in October, and I thank Deputy Pringle for sponsoring the discussion this evening and, in so doing, bringing rightful attention to this important issue, which encompasses the matters covered by the report and broader questions as to how Ireland cares for those in the international protection system, children and adults alike. I have remained committed to providing appropriate reception conditions to all international protection applicants in Irelan…

I thank all the Deputies for their considered input into this discussion. I know all the Deputies who have spoken tonight have engaged with me on individual issues relating to international protection nationally and in their own constituencies as well and I always appreciate their engagement and support, particularly the support they give to international protection families within their own areas. I will revert to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan about the issue he raised. He raised that issue with me earlier today, so I…

Disgraceful.

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are acutely aware of the huge pressures that are faced by our community disability network teams around the country and the impact this has on parents and, ultimately, children as well. That is why the issue has been prioritised by the Minister of State and I since responsibility for disability moved to my Department in March of this year. We published the PDS roadmap focusing on recruitment, retention and increasing the number of places in third level courses for those…

We are all acutely aware of the trauma of pregnancy loss. It is something that probably was not talked about enough in Irish society. Maybe that is why it has not gotten the degree of focus it needed. We wanted to change that. We felt that we needed to take a first step in undertaking that. As the Deputy said, we brought forward a detailed piece of research, which I think Deputies will find useful. If they get time, they should look at it. This will form the basis of decisions by the Government in terms of the next…

That is correct.

Deputy Brendan Smith raised this earlier. The road map sets out short- and medium-term solutions. On the shorter term solutions, it is the international recruitment that we are undertaking right now to look to bring in those therapists, the OTs and speech and language therapists, to relocate them here to Ireland to staff-up teams like that. We are doing that along with the introduction of the new assistant therapy grades, which are level 5 grades that can come in quickly and provide some interventions under the ins…

Recognition.

I thank the Deputy. Those sorts of actions do not have any place in our society. The Government has been clear throughout our response to the needs of people newly arriving in this country. The Government engages with communities and provides information but it is not a question of consultation and it is not a question of a veto. No community or individual has a veto over who lives in their town and who lives beside them. That is why we have a community engagement group that is engaged in Dromahair, Fermoy and othe…

I start by joining Deputies across the House in paying tribute to those affected by the brutal assault last Thursday afternoon, and, in particular, those who remain in hospital. Our thoughts are with them and with their families at this very difficult time. As Minister for children, I think in particular of the childcare worker wounded while defending the children in her care. It is deeply upsetting that someone working in a job which is rooted in love and in care would be harmed in such a violent manner. I know th…

In respect of Cashel, Deputy Lowry and all of the other Tipperary Deputies have been in touch with me on this. We continue to need to source additional accommodation for international protection applicants. We had sourced some accommodation in Cashel. We have a very clear policy that we do not source accommodation where that has previously been used for homelessness accommodation. Something has been drawn to our attention by Deputies over the course of the last number of days and we are engaging with the provider, …

I thank the Deputy. The award-winning access and inclusion model, AIM, has supported more than 27,000 children with a disability to access and meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme since it was first introduced in September 2016. A commitment to expand AIM beyond the ECCE programme was first made in the First 5 strategy. The fulfilment of this commitment was to be informed by an independent evaluation of AIM. That evaluation is now complete and it will be published before the end of this year. Participants…

I thank the Deputy. I caught a small amount of the hearings on TV earlier on today. Yes, we do hope to publish the report by the end of this year. As the Deputy knows, AIM right now supports access to three hours per day or 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. Our aim at the start is to enhance that to allow up to a full day, and move it beyond the 38 weeks of the ECCE year to the full-year provision. Then we will look to broaden that out to bring in children up to three years old, and we would hope in the f…

I agree with the Deputy in that this is a really positive move in terms of expanding access to AIM. It is something I and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, would have spoken about as a way to support children with a disability. As the Deputy knows, we are also bringing in the brand new equal participation model, and I think that will be seen in a number of years as being as significant as AIM in supporting children with socioeconomic disadvantage, as opposed to a disability. We engage extremely regularly with…

The youth homelessness strategy steering group was established in January of this year under the auspices of the national homeless action committee of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Its purpose is to drive the delivery of all the actions set out in the national youth homelessness strategy and monitor progress. My Department is represented on this group, which meets on a quarterly basis. The next meeting is scheduled for 22 November. The Department is also represented on the national homel…

In terms of the elements our Department is responsible for, we identified, and this is identified in the youth homelessness strategy itself, that young people leaving care are some of the most vulnerable to falling into homelessness. That is why through my Department, working with Tusla, we prioritised the aftercare strategy for Tusla. It is part of its wider continuum of aftercare looking at foster care, residential services and aftercare. As the Deputy knows, the previous Minister brought in a statutory aftercare…

Focusing on those young people who are most vulnerable is the best area for Government and for all Departments to focus their resources. As I said, I have set out what we are doing in terms of people exiting care. Another key group that has been identified and, indeed, Focus Ireland did a very good study on this, are young LGBTI+ people who are at risk of homelessness, particularly in terms of family tensions that may have occurred as a result of their coming out. That is why another one of the key elements we are …

The Government is committed to doing all it can to support all those seeking refuge in Ireland. As the Deputy said, there is significant pressure to find sufficient suitable accommodation for all who seek it. Ireland has provided accommodation to more than 99,000 people between those fleeing the war in Ukraine and international protection applicants. That compares to 8,300 people in early February 2022. Of those, 74,000 are beneficiaries of temporary protection who are fleeing the war in Ukraine, and a further 25,0…