Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy. As she may be aware, the family resource centre programme is expanding from 121 to 126 members this year. Funding for the expansion was secured by the Department in budget 2025 and I want to acknowledge in the Chamber the former Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, in that respect.

Regarding the expansion of the family resource centre programme, a comprehensive national application and assessment process was undertaken earlier this year, which was led by Tusla and independently chaired by a representative of the University of Limerick. All applications were reviewed and scored against clearly defined and published criteria, including population need, the level of deprivation, child population data and existing service provision and gaps. This year's expansion is the first since 2018 and is a very welcome development.

The five successful services joining the programme were announced on 29 August and are based in Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth and Monaghan. I understand Tusla and the family resource centre national forum will be on hand to assist the new services in assimilating into the programme. The selection process was outlined in the Tusla outcome letter issued to all unsuccessful applicants following the announcement of five new programme members by press release on 29 August. Applicants were also informed that their application will remain under active consideration should additional funding be secured for further expansion of the family resource centre programme in 2026.

In line with the programme for Government commitment to work to increase funding and expand capacity and the network of family resource centres, I am delighted to report that I secured additional funding in budget 2026 for the further expansion of the family resource centre programme by increasing membership by ten to 136. This will see more people benefiting from the many positives that the centres bring to communities.

I expect Tusla will be in a position in the near future to confirm the locations of the additional family resource centres on the basis of need, determined by the published criteria. I appreciate that is a significant uplift to a local community, given the breadth of work the centres do on the ground.

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