Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 8 February 2018

Public Accounts Committee

2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Dormant Accounts Fund

9:00 am

Mr. Conor Rowley:

I will start with where we are now. There is full spend envisaged for this year, and we will be commencing with it in the coming weeks. There has been a protracted period of development for that programme. It is envisaged as an extension of the ABC programme by 12 different sites. It is confusing in its read. There is an existing ABC programme, which is co-funded by the Government and Atlantic Philanthropies. That has continued, and we have extended that programme. When we looked at the ABC programme, we discussed it with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. In light of the fact that it was subject to ongoing evaluation, and our concerns about readiness to implement an extension to more sites, we decided to change the focus but not to lose the specific impact. As such, the ABC programme has continued, and the quality and capacity building initiative is focused on incorporating learning, prevention and early intervention into the system.