Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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3. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to ensure that the area based childhood programme remains fully resourced and funded for the upcoming number of years. [14946/16]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Before I introduce the question as spokesperson for children and youth affairs, I welcome students from Scoil Bhríde in Roscommon who are sitting here watching us have our questions this afternoon. I ask the Minister to outline the Department's plan to ensure that the area based childhood, ABC, programme remains fully resourced and funded for the upcoming years.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The area based childhood programme is a joint prevention and early intervention initiative led by my Department and the Atlantic Philanthropies. It is a time-bound, co-funding arrangement with resources of €29.7 million from 2013 to 2017. It aims to test and evaluate prevention and early intervention approaches to improve outcomes for children and families living in poverty in 13 areas of disadvantage and to mainstream in existing services those interventions that have been most effective.

A broad range of interventions have been trialled across all 13 ABC sites and from these, interventions which are supported by the best evidence of impact will be identified and the learning disseminated. My Department committed to aligning all 13 ABC programme grant recipients and ensuring that effective services provided in each area can be supported until mid-2017. We have committed to the provision of an additional €400,000 to each of the three initial sites in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale, in this context. I know those sites very well in terms of my own professional experience.

I want to ensure that the learning from these effective interventions in the ABC programme is harnessed and mainstreamed into existing services. We are developing plans to enhance prevention and early intervention in children’s services. Future decisions will be informed by an examination of evaluation results already available from previous work, an evaluation currently being undertaken by the Centre of Effective Services and recommendations by a group that is helping to mainstream the learning from the most effective activities. My officials are working to ensure coherent strategic next steps for prevention and early intervention in Ireland. This is an area I have been promoting and committed to for the past 15 years of my professional life.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Before calling Deputy Rabbitte I want to join in welcoming the students from Scoil Bhríde, Four Mile House. You are very welcome. Céad míle fáilte. They are located just a few miles up the road from me so I hope they are enjoying their visit.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister brought up the issue of the €400,000 for the three different projects. One of them I am aware of is Young Ballymun but, needless to say, I have concerns. The €400,000 being released is for another 12 months but I am concerned as to whether that is enough for what we intend to do. This started in 2007 when the philanthropists got involved and funding of €15 million was provided. The project in Ballymun, which I am only using as an example, has not got to completion. When we talk about what we need to do in the area based childhood, ABC, programme in terms of early intervention, we must see it as a cycle from preschool through to the school completion programme, and I do not believe we have done that.

I would like to believe we have a long-term plan in regard to any of the 13 centres, of which ten are in Dublin. We need to have a plan. The people who are providing the service for children in impoverished areas need to know that the Government has a long-term plan for delivery and that it is not just for the next 12 months. We should not be "Sellotaping" from year to year while wondering about funding. We need to know that from the time they enter into the parental programme they are brought through to the early intervention programme, that they get involved in the breakfast clubs and the schools programme, to completion of the leaving certificate and that we get the family support put in place. The Minister is well aware of what they have done in Ballymun because it is her area. Coming from east Galway I am not as aware but I do understand that with any amount of intervention, be it from our health service or educational system, regardless of how little, we will reap the rewards in years to come. The Minister and I, and other Members of this House, can give these children their best start in life but we cannot penny-pinch from them at the very beginning.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am in agreement with what Deputy Rabbitte is outlining, although as she is well aware the area-based childhood programmes are largely focused more on prevention and early intervention. Having a life cycle plan is a great idea. There needs to be greater planning in terms of linking that prevention in early intervention through to school completion to keep our young people in school, with all the supports that are provided for that. In that regard I as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and the Department are responsible for providing services across that particular aspect of the life cycle. That is a great idea which I will bring it back to the Department. Perhaps it is already being implemented but it is something to consider, particularly in the context of the national youth strategy that has just been published.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The only response I can give to the Minister is that I am glad to hear her embrace what I am suggesting. I believe the Minister and I are on a similar page when it comes to early intervention from the cradle to getting them to the leaving certificate and then to college or on to the jobs market. That is what we need to consider, and that is where we need to deliver. There is common political will, which is the most important aspect. The child must be the centre of our focus at all times.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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In terms of some of the issues Deputy Rabbitte raised in her second question, in terms of a multi-annual granting programme approach, that is certainly what was done in recent years, with the support of philanthropy. It is much more challenging when we do not necessarily have that kind of philanthropic support but I would be very much in favour of advocating for that.

Regarding the 13 sites, one of the aspects we are looking at in regard to the evaluations is whether we should continue to fund all 13 sites at the same level. Should we only fund those sites in the context of what are deemed to be effective services? Are there other areas that also require that kind of funding? I assure the Deputy that I would be very committed to an area-based approach to the reduction of child poverty and encouraging the potential of our young people to achieve what they wish to achieve, whoever they are and wherever they come from.