Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Funchion has already stated that we support the Bill. There is a logic to educational welfare issues being returned to the Department of Education. This is probably similar to a conversation I had with the Minister previously about the range of beneficial work that falls within the ambit of Tusla. However, Tusla has specific pieces of work that make it difficult for certain vulnerable families to deal with it.

I echo what Deputy Function says about the vital work that is done by the school completion programme. I have seen this in operation for many years. It fits into the wider conversation when we are talking about family and community supports. We know we cannot deal with every issue that arises with children and keeping them within the educational fold. Many children have different issues depending on their background and there are multiple other issues. I have seen cases where those involved in the school completion programme have gone above and beyond in their engagement with children and have facilitated them and kept them within the process. No more than others who carry out such work in communities, they end up creating ad hocnetworks and using other community and voluntary groups and NGOs within the wider community to access some of their funding to carry out joint projects. It is beneficial and, in fairness, it creates a safe environment in which children can operate.

Deputy Funchion spoke about the necessity of breakfast clubs and after-school supports. There are obvious benefits that come from them. It is a piece of the puzzle that we must put properly together because, to a degree, our approach can be ad hoc. We do not necessarily have all the pieces working together and we are not putting the puzzle together as it should be. I apologise for being a broken record, but I must refer to the difficulties with the national childcare scheme, NCS, especially in terms of after-school care for children in the most deprived areas. We must find a solution. In fairness, I appreciate the work the Minister has done and the short-term interim fix that is Tusla. That includes all the caveats to which I referred, that many families do not want to go near Tusla, as it will frighten them. I ask the Minister to play his part in making the interim solution as easy as possible for operators. I refer to the centres such as in Moneymore, and the houses in Cox's Demesne and in Grange Drive in Muirhevnamore. Last week the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, visited Garda youth diversion programmes and he happened to visit two that were operating out of those two campuses that are providing multiple projects. We have seen real benefits. They can also point out the mistakes that have been made previously in terms of community and family support. I refer to the youth justice strategy that is separate from child support programmes. Sometimes groups put it together but when the State is putting plans together, we must put in place a plan that gives us the best bang for our buck, in order that we can give the best support we can possibly give to those that need it. I have seen multiple positive results with school completion programmes and other programmes. Part of the reason that happens is possibly because they are all connected in an ad hocfashion. We must facilitate that.

As regards the NCS, like everybody else, I await the report in November which should give us the facility down the line to deal with a better funding model that can deal directly with these types of projects and we can remove them from the work done by the NCS as regards job activation and other such activities. I support what is being done in the Bill. It makes sense. We must revisit the conversation on Tusla and the possibility that early intervention may need to be taken away from the other work Tusla does.

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