Written Answers Nos. 294-300
294. Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he will take to ensure the reinstatement of The Child Law Project, a long-established court reporting service providing valuable data and information in ongoing policy developments; and if he will clarify matters. [42241/24]
View answerChild care proceedings ordinarily occur otherwise than in public, and court reporting has an important role in highlighting for policy makers those issues that may impact on children as they arise in these proceedings. My Department renews the court reporting project periodically through a competitive tender process. The current iteration of court reporting began in November 2021 and will expire on 31 October 2024, over which period my Department will have provided funding to a total of €0.6m. The current project is being delivered by the Child Law Project (CLP).
In accordance with the funding agreement and work plan under this iteration of the project, the CLP ceased attending proceedings in June of 2024 and published a final volume of court reports in relation to this period on 8th July. A final analytical report for this phase of reporting is due for publication on the 4th of November. I wish to acknowledge the importance of the work undertaken by the CLP over the past three years.
I have previously confirmed that funding will be made available for a future iteration of the court reporting project. As part of the Estimates 2025 process, an allocation of €200,000 has been secured in the budget for court reporting next year.
The Government is committed to supporting the provision of high quality and safe services to children in care, which will help them to reach their full potential, and reporting on child care proceedings assists in this regard by providing evidence to inform policy and implementation. It is the intention of my Department that a new tender will issue for another phase of reporting.
295. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to outline the payments made in relation to international protection accommodation and/or associated costs at a location (details supplied) in 2023 and to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42247/24]
View answerHuge efforts are underway, within this Department and as part of a whole-of-Government response, to source and bring into use suitable facilities to provide shelter and safety to international protection applicants.
Providing reception conditions – accommodation and other basic supports – to applicants is part of Irish and EU law and is also part of our humanitarian duty to provide shelter to people fleeing war and persecution in their home country. The State is currently accommodating about 32,000 people in international protection accommodation, about 9,000 of whom are children with their families.
Contractual arrangements between the Department and external providers are considered commercially sensitive. In order to preserve the Department's negotiating position, the costs paid to providers are not published, as making this data available to other accommodation providers would not serve the public interest.
The Public Sector Reform Plan requires that government departments and agencies publish online reports detailing Purchase Orders (PO) relating to payments for goods, services or works procured to a value greater than €20,000. These are published, once per quarter, on gov.ie
(www.gov.ie/en/collection/dfdadb-department-of-children-and-youth-affairs-purchase-orders-for-20000-o/)
The Department does not provide a further breakdown of these payments at this time.
In meeting our obligation to provide material reception conditions to people seeking international protection, the Department can consider offers of accommodation from a tax-compliant company, subject to compliance with statutory requirements and minimum standards. The Department carries out due diligence on accommodation being contracted including checks via the Companies Registration Office to ensure compliance with Companies Registration Office (CRO) requirements and tax compliance checks by way of a valid Tax Clearance Certificate.
In all instances where the Department enters into a contract with an accommodation provider, the onus is on the provider to ensure all activities are within legal limits. Furthermore, all statutory requirements relating to the establishment and management of accommodation are met by the service provider, including health and safety, fire, building regulations and other requirements.
I hope this information is helpful.
296. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to outline the payments made to a person (details supplied) in County Meath in relation to temporary protection accommodation and international protection and/or associated costs in 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42248/24]
View answerI thank the Deputy for this question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.
297. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide a breakdown of the cost associated with the plan to deliver 14,000 State-owned beds for international protection applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42260/24]
View answerIn March 2024 Government approved a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy (CAS) for International Protection applicants. The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments.
Accommodation in the new strategy will be delivered through the following multi-strand approach:1. Use of State land for prefabricated and modular units2. Conversion of commercial buildings3. Targeted purchase of medium and larger turnkey properties4. Design and build of new Reception and Integration Centres5. Upgrading of IPAS Centres
The full cost to deliver the 14,000 state owned beds as committed to under the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy will be dependent on a wide variety of factors including site acquisition, site security and insurance, physical infrastructure requirements, delivery mechanism (modular, design and build, refurbishment etc.) groundworks, labour and other variables.
In addition with respect to maintaining a negotiating position at the early stage of acquiring lands and/or buildings to deliver the beds, it is not possible to release information on the expected or proposed costs of acquisitions, as such data is commercially sensitive and its release could compromise the Department’s ability to achieve best value on behalf of the State.
The cost of delivering the 14,000 beds is being controlled and managed through an effective planning, scoping, procurement and oversight process across all relevant teams and agencies with a role in this significant programme of work.
298. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide a breakdown of the cost associated with the plan to deliver four new reception and integration centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42261/24]
View answerIn March 2024 Government approved a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy (CAS) for International Protection applicants. The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments.
Accommodation in the new strategy will be delivered through the following multi-strand approach:
1. Use of State land for prefabricated and modular units2. Conversion of commercial buildings3. Targeted purchase of medium and larger turnkey properties4. Design and build of new Reception and Integration Centres5. Upgrading of IPAS Centres
The full cost to deliver four Reception and Integration Centres under the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy will be dependent on a wide variety of factors including site acquisition, site security and insurance, physical infrastructure requirements, delivery mechanism (modular, design and build, refurbishment etc.) groundworks, labour and other variables.
In addition with respect to maintaining a negotiating position at the early stage of acquiring lands and/or buildings to deliver the Reception and Integration Centres, it is not possible to release information on the expected or proposed costs of acquisitions, as such data is commercially sensitive and its release could compromise the Department’s ability to achieve best value on behalf of the State.
The cost of delivering the Reception and Integration Centres is being controlled and managed through an effective planning, scoping, procurement and oversight process across all relevant teams and agencies with a role in this significant programme of work.
299. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide details of all social enterprise organisations or bodies funded by his Department in each year from 2021 to date in 2024; the amount allocated in funding to each during this time period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42266/24]
View answerMy Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
300. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of the Child Law Reporting Project; the annual cost of the project; to confirm that the necessary resources will remain in place to support this essential project into the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42285/24]
View answerChild care proceedings ordinarily occur otherwise than in public, and court reporting has an important role in highlighting for policy makers those issues that may impact on children as they arise in these proceedings. My Department renews the court reporting project periodically through a competitive tender process. The current iteration of court reporting began in November 2021 and will expire on 31 October 2024, over which period my Department will have provided funding to a total of €0.6m. The current project is being delivered by the Child Law Project (CLP).
In accordance with the funding agreement and work plan under this iteration of the project, the CLP ceased attending proceedings in June of 2024 and published a final volume of court reports in relation to this period on 8th July. A final analytical report for this phase of reporting is due for publication on the 4th of November. I wish to acknowledge the importance of the work undertaken by the CLP over the past three years.
I have previously confirmed that funding will be made available for a future iteration of the court reporting project. As part of the Estimates 2025 process, an allocation of €200,000 has been secured in the budget for court reporting next year.
The Government is committed to supporting the provision of high quality and safe services to children in care, which will help them to reach their full potential, and reporting on child care proceedings assists in this regard by providing evidence to inform policy and implementation. It is the intention of my Department that a new tender will issue for another phase of reporting.
