Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas don Aire as an sceideal a athrú. Tá fhios agam go raibh rud eile eagartha. It is important that the Minister is present to take this matter, particularly in view of the fact that the early years initiative comes within her remit. I welcome the recent publication of the Children First Bill and other initiatives that have been taken by the Minister since she took office.

The service which is the subject of the matter I wish to discuss is at risk of closure if funding is not provided. I refer to the Bringing It All Back Home programme, which was first launched in 2011 and which involves an inter-agency approach in respect of children and families. The programme provides people with assistance in order that they might cope with parenting and ensures the children are nurtured from a young age. A gap in this regard was identified in the highly disadvantaged area of Inchicore and that was why the programme was put in place there. However, the programme has extended its reach beyond Inchicore in order to provide assistance to services in the Ballyfermot, Crumlin, Kilmainham and Bluebell areas. The approach taken in the context of Bringing It All Back Home has been lauded by the HSE and others as a model of best practice, particularly for those involved in the operation of the ongoing Meitheal programme. It would be sad if the pilot programme which set the standard for others were to be put at risk.

The programme was initially granted funding for three years, and that period comes to an end in June. Those involved in the programme have asked for it to be funded for a further two years until such time as there is another round of funding to which they can apply for the programme to be mainstreamed properly. Then, whatever changes need to happen to their service can take place.

The programme has been successful. I gave the Minister the evaluation report earlier. An independent evaluation or reading of the report suggests the programme has been invaluable. I have met many of the parents who have come through it. Let us not forget this is only three years in the making. Two of the parents involved have gone on to college, a major achievement given where they came from in the first place. These people have been identified by services as being highly at risk.

One of the initiatives has been that the professional and voluntary services can work together. If this project were not in place there would be higher costs in the provision of these services because, in the main, these services have worked in isolation. They have managed to work together and they are particularly cost-effective, which is testament to those who are pulling it together. It is pulled together under the Daughters of Charity Child and Family Service and the national early years access initiative. I urge the Minister to consider the matter, if possible. The programme is run on a shoestring and those involved are part-time. The annual cost is €120,000, which is not a major cost. For example, those involved sourced all the furniture for the offices themselves. It has not been a burden on the State. That is not the intention. The intention is to service the needs of a seriously disadvantaged community. It is based in Goldenbridge, next to St Michael's estate, an area which, as the Minister and others in the House will be aware, has had tremendous problems over the years and has been disproportionately affected by the downturn. It would be a pity if the service was lost for other parents and children in the area since there are no alternative projects stepping in to take up the flak. There would be a loss of their expertise to the area.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for raising this issue. The report is an important and impressive evaluation of the Bringing It All Back Home project. As Deputy Ó Snodaigh said, it was a project of the canal communities family welfare initiative. This is an inter-agency consortium. I fully agree with what Deputy Ó Snodaigh said in respect of the inter-agency arrangement. It is important that community, voluntary and statutory organisations work together since all are concerned with children's welfare and children's services delivery in the Inchicore and Bluebell areas.

In 2011 the programme identified a gap for children aged zero to four years. Those involved identified a cohort of children and families who were not engaging with services. Since they began their work, they have engaged with families and parents. There are many testimonies from parents in the report summarising the work. Those involved were successful through the national early years access initiative, NEYAI, and Pobal in delivering what was at the time a three year community, parent and family support and education programme. It was run by the Daughters of Charity Child and Family Service, which took on the lead role for the agency. The NEYAI is a partnership involving Atlantic Philanthropies. As Deputy Ó Snodaigh is aware, Atlantic Philanthropies is withdrawing from Ireland in the coming year or two. It also involves the Mount Street Club Trust, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the early years education policy unit of the Department of Education and Skills and Pobal, which provided a governance and management role.

Let us put this in context. The national early years access initiative is an important initiative. It comprises 11 local projects from five counties, of which Bringing It All Back Home is one. They work in collaboration with a range of partners. Each has a particular focus, such as training and professional development; integrated family services management and practice; and language, literacy and numeracy. There are five areas of activity. They work to ensure standards in child care, to upskill the early childhood care and education workforce, to help children to be ready for school and to develop parent skills and parenting support. The work involves trying to get the a continuum of services out to families as well as working on the well-being of parents and their capacity to nurture their children's development.

They have operated in a climate of rapid change in terms of policy and infrastructure for the development of these services with funding cuts and new funding initiatives resulting in alterations to some of the planned activities. All 11 projects are in the final phase of implementation and all are exploring the question of sustainability, which is a difficult question. They were pilot projects and therefore the question of sustainability and related costs must be examined. They are going through this process and an entire community is working on it. The initiative will finish this year but the projects have different end dates, with two finishing in April, four in July and five in August. Bringing It All Back Home is one of the projects and that contract ends in August.

I emphasise that the projects were started with a clear understanding that they were part of an initiative to test, trial and research ways of working with a vision to be able to streamline good evidence-based practice in early intervention. Funding was agreed for a three-year contract. My understanding is that no further funding is available for the initiative from the source of the original funding - I am referring in particular to Atlantic Philanthropies and the Mount Street Trust - since the arrangement was time bound. There will, however, be a national conference in May at which the findings from the initiative will be discussed and the lessons learned will be examined. Local children's services committees have been involved and there could be discussions with them on proposals for continuing the work of the project beyond the current contract.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I note the final point and I will pass on to those involved in Bringing It All Back Home the fact they can approach the local children's services committee. It is a pity the conference is in May because that is almost too late to ensure the continuation of services, especially if two of the projects finish in April. The only people who will suffer if there is a halt to the continuation of services are the children and parents who are identified as high risk. There is also a possibility we will lose the expertise that has been built up not only in this area but, I presume, in the other four areas, although I do not know anything about how those projects worked. In Inchicore, the service providers, including the HSE and the officials from the Department of Education and Skills, are satisfied with the way things are working. In some ways they are afraid of what will happen when they no longer meet on an inter-agency basis, as has been the case to date.

Some 40 families are engaged with Bringing It All Back Home. I hope there will be some way to ensure there is no gap in the support they get at a time when they are, for once, engaging with a service. A frightening figure came out when I met them. They put it to me that part of the catchment area has in percentage terms the highest number of children going into care. These are the clientele with whom the services are working. If these children end up in care now, there will be additional costs to the State, whereas this type of service reduces costs.

The service costs €120,000. I realise every penny counts for such a service. I do not intend to quote from the report but I refer the Minister to page ten in which the evaluation is specific about planning for the future. It is in line with everything the Minister has been saying in terms of services. The best approach involves working on an inter-agency basis. If anything emerges from the conference in May, it should include a recommendation to continue until the Child and Family Agency is fully bedded down and in tune with the services it can fully deliver.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I can only agree with Deputy Ó Snodaigh that this type of early intervention project yields great results. There is no question of that. It could prevent young children going into care if the right support is available for families and parents. This is one of the reasons the Government has committed €30 million for the area-based childhood, ABC, programmes which are similar to the NEYAI programmes. I will ask the local children's services committee to give me a report on the project and the continuity issues that arise in respect of the families.

I will also see how much information we have on the 11 projects nationally and the funding implications for same. Clearly, they were pilot projects, but they merit an examination in terms of whether continuity is possible. The local children's services committees are the first place I will do so. I will undertake that and revert to the Deputy.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Those involved in the project have asked me to invite the Minister to visit it, if she so wishes, along with the area's other Deputies. Deputy Catherine Byrne of the Minister's party is aware of the project.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Okay.