Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will commence where Deputy Ó Caoláin finished, namely, the innocent ways in which childhood poverty can present itself. That is something of which I have no doubt the organisations are aware, but it does reinforce the point. We have seen too many examples of it.

The witnesses are all very welcome. I very much welcome the focus on outcomes and early intervention. My difficulty is that most times when we talk about early intervention it seems to me that we have a system of early acknowledgement but not intervention. One of the issues of concern for me is how we move from early acknowledgement to early intervention. Intervention is a word with which we have become more comfortable, which is great, but it is debatable whether we know its true meaning. It is important that we intervene as well as acknowledge.

In the context of poverty, three new sites are to come on-stream. I asked the Minister in the Seanad last week about how the new sites will be determined or decided. I do not know whether the witnesses have any more information in that regard than I do. We are trying to work out the best way. The current sites are based on a geographical approach but we are aware that certain groupings are particularly excluded. We have seen the impact of the budget cuts on lone parents. We have also seen the effects on Traveller children and migrant children. Yesterday, I visited the direct provision facility in Athlone where there are 100 mobile homes. I still find it difficult to talk about the situation I found there but I commend Barnardos on the work it is doing in the Athlone centre. I say well done to the staff who are running the centre. It is one of the few bits of sunlight in that complex, which is very much outside of the town.

Deputy Troy inquired about the involvement of the groups in the new strategy. I am interested in a response to the question. He also asked about the new child and family support agency. Many of the issues that are being presented to us today are interlinked with the new agency. We had committee hearings where it emerged that of the new agency’s budget of €545 million, approximately €100 million would go to NGOs that are providing the services. How much have the groups been involved in designing and determining those services?

Mr. Duffin said there are too many pilot schemes and not enough mainstreaming. Each group has cited various pilot schemes which are working well but we must examine how we incorporate those models into the mainstream. How much have the groups been involved in determining that or are they still being funded and therefore operate at the behest of the new agency? Are we seeing a change in the model of co-operation? We must move towards outcomes. The model we must aim for is one that is about cash plus services. We are trying to work out how that is divided. In terms of the first three steps to be taken with the new agency, what are the priorities that we must take into account on childhood poverty? Reference was made to public health nurses. What are the areas on which we must concentrate and devise a checklist to ensure that we maintain scrutiny?