I want to thank the Senators for bringing attention to this important issue today, and it is in the context of the motion brought by the then Leader of the Seanad a number of months ago. In March 2023, I informed this House that as St. John's Ambulance Ireland is an independent organisation, it does not receive funding from Tusla or the Government. Although it remains my understanding that St. John's Ambulance is not the recipient of regular funding under Departmental funding schemes, it has come to my attention th…

Counselling services was one of the issues we discussed when I met one of the survivors recently. We have written to St. John Ambulance in terms of having an independent third party through which a request for counselling could go, rather than going through the organisation. The Senator is absolutely right in terms of the aggressive approach that has been adopted. It is hugely unlikely that anyone is going to take it up. We have been advising them to obtain a third party through which any contacts for counselling c…

The Deputy is right that it impacts disability services. It also impacts section 56 services providing services to Tusla. The Government has recognised that the pay differential. We have committed to engaging in a process through the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to resolve that. That process is ongoing at the moment. My Department, the Department of Health, the HSE and Tusla have all been represented there. We are in the middle of a process which, I hope will have a positive outcome to allow these vital ser…

I thank Deputy Kenny. We have about 21,000 people living in international protection accommodation. About 5,000 of them have status and they have status for different lengths of time. I know the Deputy is aware of the pressures our Department is under in terms of opening new accommodation for the significant number of people who have arrived. It is important we use the accommodation we have for those awaiting a determination of their status. Where people have a determination and have been given status, they are ent…

I move: That Dáil Éireann, noting that the Government, on 4th July, 2023, agreed to nominate Andrew Forde, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, Colin Harvey, Eoin Ronayne, Noeline Blackwell and Dr Salome Mbugua for appointment by the President as members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, recommends, pursuant to section 13(1)(b) of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 (No.25 of 2014), that Andrew Forde, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, Colin Harvey, Eoin Ronayne, Noeline Blackwell and Dr Salome Mbugua be…

We have debated the institutional payments Bill extensively in both the Dáil and Seanad. It has undergone at least 30 hours of debate across both Houses. It is important that we get this legislation passed prior to the end of the term in order that we can enact this legislation and put in place the mechanisms so that survivors can make applications and draw down the payments and enhanced medical cards to which they are entitled under this legislation. I will speak to the first group of amendments. These amendments …

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. In terms of the reasoning for the introduction of a concluding year, as I described earlier and as many Deputies will know, county homes had multiple purposes from the 1920s. They succeeded the poorhouses into the 1930s and 1940s and by the 1960s, many of them had ceased. Some did not cease. Some developed into nursing homes provided for by the State and some developed into mainstream hospitals providing a whole range of mainstream services, including maternity services…

She asked and I have confirmed this to the Deputy. With respect, I have at least twice. She asked for her name to be removed and we made the determination that this was work that she had taken on on behalf of the Government, which had been done, and which we believed should be published with her name. That was the situation. We have discussed that report. I am not sure if it was the subject of a full set of statements but I have spoken about the report. There were significant follow-ups to that report in the work t…

I will respond to the Deputy's point on the concluding year. To reaffirm what I said at the outset, this Bill is about keeping the original policy intention of this legislation, which is that 34,000 former residents of these institutions have a right to apply under this scheme. The changes that are being introduced will not reduce the number who may be able to apply under that original policy intent. If there are no records for a person's residence in a mother and baby home or county home institution, we have a pro…

Again, if someone has an argument regarding what they believe the records say, the affidavit process will be there. Substantial work has been done to identify those concluding dates but, recognising new information can come to light in this area where records are found, we have put in a provision that will allow for those concluding dates to be extended, and that can be done through secondary legislation if that relevant information comes to light. The concluding dates can be changed if it has been proved the insti…

I do not think so. I understand we are debating only amendments from the Seanad to the Bill as passed.

The Seanad has agreed to changes and this House has been asked to decide on each of those changes, not on the Bill as a whole, as I understand.

If I understand the Deputy's point-----

In that situation, and if the individual is entitled under the legislation, the legislation provides for the enhanced medical card. The person will still receive the enhanced medical card but the payment is predicated on the signing of the waiver.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 57 together. I thank the Deputy for raising the question. Children in the care of the State are some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and my Department are committed to promoting safe and high-quality practice in all areas of alternative care. Tusla has a statutory obligation to notify An Garda Síochána of all incidents of suspected child sexual exploitation, including those relating to children in the care of the State. A…

I thank the Deputies. I am actually dealing with a question later in terms of children who go missing from care. Obviously, any child missing from care for any period is a real concern, but it is really important to say that the vast majority are returned to care safely. However, that is not to say that even one child continuously missing from care is not a matter of real concern. Deputy Funchion raised the issue of incidents that have taken place in the United Kingdom and how we could respond. That is why it is im…

I thank the Deputy. I am pleased to be able to say there has been an increase in the level of foster carers. It has gone up by 1%, from 89% to 90%, so it is going in the right direction. That is really important. When comparing Ireland with other countries, the number of children who are in care, including foster care, is extremely high. We want to continue to support foster carers. In my budget Estimates campaign, I will certainly work to secure an increase in the foster care allowance. When I started off in this …

I thank the Deputy. At the end of April 2023, 75% of cases, some 17,083, had an allocated social worker and 25%, some 5,785, were awaiting allocation of a social worker. My Department has established a joint working group with Tusla to examine issues around social work supply and review initiatives around it. This group includes senior officials from both my Department and Tusla, including the chief social workers from Tusla and my Department, senior HR and other key members including the Health and Social Care Pro…

I thank the Deputy. I take on board her point about the data. I will raise it with Tusla the next time I meet with it. I meet Tusla quarterly. I assure the Deputy that workforce planning and retention are central in all my engagements with the board. These are a source of real concern for the board too. It is important to say that the number of allocated cases has come down significantly in recent years because of the applied focus of Tusla on it, but it is still too high. That is why we are taking the range of mea…

I completely agree with the Deputy's point about consistency. One of the things that has arisen during my time in this office is that a significant number of social workers and social care workers are care-experienced themselves. Knowing the benefit they got from it, they want to give something back. Not everyone is entirely suited to a purely academic route. Looking at developing that idea of an apprenticeship model is something that Tusla in particular is very conscious of. It sees this group of people as a poten…