Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the enormous trauma that has been visited on families. The Deputy advocates in a particular way on this issue and I wish to acknowledge that. Regarding the defective blocks and all of that, it is being managed through the Department of housing. In terms of counselling supports in schools, it is the Department of education. In relation to additional supports that fall within the remit of this Department, we are doing all that we can, for example, to improve access and opportunity on the ground through family resource centres, expanding the work of the family resource centres and expanding the number of family resource centres. In fact, there was one recently announced for Donegal. This is an additional one in Donegal. That is for the benefit of children and the wider family. We will continue to do that. It is an objective here that we would do that. I acknowledge that the Donegal city and county childcare committees have been very proactive in this space. They have worked directly on the ground with services that have been impacted by the issue. I acknowledge the work that they do. I do not take away from the point that the Deputy has raised. It crosses a number of different Departments. For example, the counselling available in schools is also being rolled out on a pilot basis across primary schools. That is something that we never had before through the Department of education. That is where we are at the minute.