James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Many of the people who work in the Child and Family Agency came from the HSE, where they did sterling work. Tusla is a new agency independent of the HSE. It has many working relationships with it, particularly in services such as psychology. I remind the Deputy of what I stated: that the review is an important initiative to plan for the future development of the programme. The programme is critical for young people at risk of falling out of education. As I stated, everybody knows that people who finish their education do better in terms of employment and income, and it has many other benefits which sometimes help break the inter-generational poverty trap into which people have fallen. My commitment to the programme is absolute and there is no question but that it will continue and that it is a top priority for me. I believe in its importance, as the Deputy outlined.

Tusla will have to submit its corporate plan, a draft of which I have, and I will make my findings known to it very shortly. The Tusla budget has increased this year; therefore, there is absolutely no rationale for a reduction in this particular programme.

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