I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. In the time available to me, I will try to address some of their queries, many of which I know we will discuss on Committee and Report Stages. I would like to take the opportunity to set this Bill in the context of the Government's action plan and all that Government is doing in response to the needs of former residents and the legacy of these institutions. Unfortunately, Deputy Connolly is not present. She spoke with huge knowledge, as she always does, as well as j…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)( a ) and 181(1).

I thank the Senator for raising this extremely important matter, which is close to my heart. We emphasised this matter when we brought forward the White Paper to end direct provision in February of last year. I will outline some of the achievements that have been made since the White Paper was published. We created a unit within my Department to implement the White Paper. We established some governance structures. We brought in a programme board which included officials from other Departments, expertise from the pr…

There are approximately 4,500 people living in international protection centres with status. We will not charge them rent. They are entitled to full social welfare if they are not working, although many of them are. Some of them are in centres where they get free food points. It is not particularly fair that, on top of the supports that everyone else gets, they are getting these additional supports, so we may have to regularise their situation and the situation of others compared with those who do not have status, …

The funding being provided is record-breaking.

The providers are getting a very large amount of additional funding.

I welcome the opportunity to address the issues raised in this motion. Everyone here will agree that the State, together with the religious congregations, must acknowledge the indisputable wrongs that were visited on the women and children who spent time in mother and baby and county home institutions. As the Taoiseach said in his apology on behalf of the State in January of last year, they should not have been there and the shame is ours, not theirs. Throughout my two years in this role, I have worked to progress …

Ensuring high quality early learning and childcare is accessible and affordable is a key priority for me and there are a number of funding programmes available through my Department that seek to improve capacity which will be open to the Village Childcare and Community Services. The new core funding scheme has a range of objectives, and that includes capacity growth. Although the scheme has only been in place since 15 September, initial analysis shows there has been a significant growth in capacity, with particular…

We announced the €10 million modernisation scheme approximately one month ago. The best thing the provider could do is to engage with the Kilkenny County Childcare Committee with regard to making an application under that scheme. I understand what the Deputy is saying. Many community providers do not own their facility. Many community facilities are located in rented accommodation. I certainly will bear that in mind in designing the scheme for the capacity expansion grant, which is the larger grant scheme. I hope t…

The modernisation fund which has been opened up already is not the right fund and is just for the modernisation and upgrading of their existing buildings but the capacity expansion scheme is about bringing new services online. We are still working on the criteria for it but it is certainly my desire that we want and need new capacity and we want services to expand. It is interesting that the core funding that we brought in has already started to deliver expanded capacity and our focus in our debates here was very m…

I will respond to the Deputy. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act and the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill are very good examples of why we are doing this. This Act was passed in 2015. I was not here at that time but I still do not understand why that Act was not implemented and in the seven years since, wardship, which is entirely in breach of the principles of the UNCRPD, has continued to exist and people have continued to be wards of court. We know that if we signed up to the UN optio…

I fully understand why there is frustration out there on the delivery of services but also frustration on the legislative process. That is why myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, have put a great deal of focus on the assisted decision-making capacity legislation in respect of such legislation which falls directly within the remit of our Department. We were accused then of rushing this legislation on one side when we brought it to the Dáil. We slowed things down because people raised issues and we hav…

There is urgency. We have prioritised the advancement of one really important piece of legislation that will allow us to move towards full compliance with the UNCRPD, namely, the assisted decision-making legislation. I absolutely share the Deputy’s frustration. As I said, I still do not fully understand how a law that was passed in 2015 has never been fully enacted. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are looking to bring forward the solution, which is this amending legislation which will make the relevan…

As the Deputy knows, the Government has made it clear that addressing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, is a key priority for us all. This involves a number of Departments working collaboratively, in particular my own Department and that of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. In that Department, many positive steps have been taken in the fight against domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including the launch of Zero Tolerance, the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-…

Over the previous two budgets, I had secured specific increases for Tusla directed specifically to DSGBV services. As the Deputy knows, the Government has made the decision that these services will move out of Tusla to the new agency. In advance of that, the Department of Justice has responsibility for that part of Tusla's operation and that is done through a memorandum of understanding. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, was very successful in securing €7 million to support those services. My understanding is that this…

I do not have an answer about that fund, but the Minister for Justice works closely with NGOs, as I did when this matter fell within my remit. She listens to them and works to support their actions, expertise and knowledge on the ground. Regarding the pressure on refuges, it is worth highlighting two measures, namely, the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, which we debated yesterday and will debate again today, and the new five days of paid domestic violence leave, which is an important support th…

I am acutely aware of the sense of urgency surrounding the establishment of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme and I am focused on delivering that scheme as soon as possible. On Tuesday, I brought the Bill providing for the payment scheme to the Government and obtained approval for its publication and presentation to the Houses later this month. The scheme will provide financial payments and an enhanced medical card to eligible survivors in acknowledgement of suffering experienced while resident in mot…

We have sought to learn from previous schemes in how we have designed and will implement this one. We examined the residential institutions redress scheme, under which individuals had to appear before a committee to give evidence and face cross-examination. Everyone understands that that was a retraumatising process. We have designed this scheme based on the length of time in an institution. A person will receive the relevant payment according to his or her length of time in the institution. This means that all an …

Anyone who spent time in an institution for more than six months and was subsequently boarded out will be able to qualify under the scheme. A broad statement was made that boarded out people were being excluded, so it is important to clarify that anyone who was in an institution and was subsequently boarded out can fit within the remit of the scheme. On the suggestion that this will be an exclusionary scheme, I have worked at all points to broaden it. Consider the original recommendations from the commission in res…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 110 together. Foster care is the preferred option in Ireland for children who cannot live with their parents or guardians. Approximately 89% of children in care are currently being cared for by foster carers, enabling them to live in a safe, secure and stable home environment. Foster carers are paid at a rate of €325 per week for a child under 12, and €352 per week for a child over 12 and under 18. In certain circumstances, where the necessary criteria are met, enhanced and a…