Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am making the point that there are serious deficiencies within the services here and now. We tend to look back at historical reports. This week The Sunday Business Post reported that €25.4 million was spent on legal fees for child care. These are all relevant issues. I raise them today because I believe the new agency represents a new opportunity. These are current issues and not ones from a bygone era.

What difference will the establishment of the child and family support agency make? Professor Pat Dolan, who appeared before the committee earlier this morning, said he had been working on this since September 2011. What is the delay in putting the agency on a statutory footing? Does Mr. Jeyes feel vulnerable in the absence of legislation? Will the budget deficit of €50 million be carried forward to the new agency? Will it be possible to maintain front-line services with a reduction of €5 million?

Representatives of family resource centres appeared before the committee earlier this morning and expressed concern that they will not get the recognition they need. In terms of protecting early intervention, will the new agency ensure that adequate resources are put in place for early intervention? A recurrent theme of each of the five groups presenting this morning was the importance of investing early. Someone mentioned that if we sow in spring, we will reap the harvest in autumn. Making the investment at an early stage will save having to spend large amounts of money at a later stage. The family resource centres have a track record in doing that and I ask Mr. Jeyes to comment on that.

On governance structures, in his presentation, Mr. Jeyes alluded to clear accountability. Have the governance structures been decided yet? The original announcement made last July indicated a similar structure to the HSE. Will there be political accountability with the new governance structure? What will be the composition of the 4,000 staff? Are all HR issues resolved? It is critical to avoid an excessively bureaucratic system and we need to have adequate staff in the right place, which is in the front-line services. I again refer back to the report I mentioned earlier that indicated 454 children in the care system are without a social worker. Is Mr. Jeyes confident that there will be an holistic approach and that professionals will share their information across the board? Will the child and adolescent mental health service be in or out? Historical reports identified positive consequences of an holistic approach, particularly in the area of mental health. A large number of children who experience mental health issues end up in the juvenile justice and care systems.

Earlier it was mentioned that there was talk of phase one and phase two of the new child and family support agency and I ask Mr. Jeyes to enlighten us on that.