PSC the only access to subsidies as paper applications not in place

A former director at the juvenile justice facility at which Edward Bryan worked for 15 years has called for the publication of the full report into how allegations made against the former Christian Brother were handled.

Questions linger over how former Christian brother Edward Bryan, jailed last month for sexual offences, remained working with young offenders for so long - and whether it should have been handled differently, writes Noel Baker

Over €440,000 is being provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to create a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for LGBTI+ young people.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was advised by a data protection consultancy not to use the Public Services Card as a mandatory requirement for accessing the new National Childcare Scheme as to do so would risk breaching the constitutional rights of children.

The number of students learning through Irish in schools and early education is targeted to double, as the development of the first comprehensive policy on Irish-medium education is announced.

Two more creches have been ordered to close after being put through an extensive enforcement process by Tusla.

Tusla announced the decision today and revealed that the creches will close on December 31. Hyde and Seek as 21 days to appeal the decision.

The children’s charity said the report from the Public Accounts Committee containing the finding prompted questions as to other ways the money could have been spent, including on intensive Family Support Services.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has again defended its decision not to publish the report of the Collaborative Forum on Mother and Baby Homes.

The National Adoption Contact Preference Register (NACPR), run by the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI), was introduced in 2005 to enable contact between adopted people and their birth relatives.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has rejected any suggestion that the decision not to publish the report of the Collaborative Forum on Mother and Baby Homes was due to its scathing criticism of the Government’s adoption tracing legislation.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was ordered to make the public services card (PSC) the only way for people to access the new National Childcare Scheme as it did “not make sense” for the department to be allowed to develop its own application system.

The Chair of Tusla has said the organisation will “have to examine” the case of a whistleblower who was left without income after he was led to believe he was on unpaid leave.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has yet to reply to a request by the data protection commissioner for “certain information” regarding the new National Childcare Scheme and the Public Services Card, despite that request being made nearly two weeks ago.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has acknowledged the “distress” experienced by adopted and illegally adopted people who are being refused access to personal information held by State bodies.

Adoption campaigners have labelled Tusla ‘worse than nuns’ saying that information that was routinely released is now routinely being withheld, writes Conall Ó Fátharta.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) is facing a possible investigation and potential €1m fines over the mandatory requirement to hold a public services card in order to access the new National Childcare Scheme.

An alternative method for applying for the new National Childcare Scheme online, other than the public services card, was dramatically dropped on the advice of a State body with responsibility for the card’s expansion in January 2018.

The Public Services Card will be the only way for parents to claim childcare benefits from late October, despite the Taoiseach claiming that “an option will be available” for those who do not wish to register for a card.

The Government has refused to give a date for the publication of a report from the long-delayed scoping exercise into the practice of illegal birth registrations.

DNA samples can be speedily taken from survivors of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home without the need for new legislation.

The Public Services Card (PSC) will be the only way by which parents can access the new National Childcare Scheme when it goes live in October, despite a ruling from the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) that the card is unlawful when applied to State services other than welfare.

There are calls on the Department of Children to reveal the 37 childcare facilities on Tusla's 'critical' list.

It also emerged that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is not aware of the identity of the 37 facilities.

The vast majority of the almost 15,000 adopted people and natural parents on the national adoption tracing register will have to reapply to be added to the Government’s planned new register.

Tusla will today claim the behaviour in a Dublin creche chain is an "exception" in Irish childcare.

OFFICIALS from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, are due before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs on Wednesday to discuss the RTÉ Investigates report on childcare facilities.

Around 100 people protested outside one of the Hyde and Seek creches in Dublin today to show their disgust at the findings of an undercover investigation.

Tusla has confirmed that the Garda Child Protection Unit at Mountjoy Garda Station has begun an investigation with the Tusla Social Work Unit, into the issues raised by the documentary.

Social media has changed the landscape in terms of adopted people tracing their birth relatives to such an extent that service providers here "are out of step with the reality".

Minister intervenes over funding crisis facing street project to tackle drugs and gangs issue

An intensive street project aimed at diverting young people away from the drugs trade and criminal gangs faces the axe because of an impending funding crisis.

Demand for post-termination counselling more than doubled last year, the Sexual Health Centre in Cork has reported.

School absenteeism cases on Tusla’s national waiting list have surged to the highest recorded level due to the rising number of homeless children, insufficient numbers of staff, and increasingly complex cases such as students with mental health issues and special needs.