Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for attending to deal with this matter. I put down a number of questions to the Minister yesterday on related issues. In regard to a set of questions on contact centres, she stated:

My Department is committed to supporting and promoting the development, welfare and protection of children, and the effective functioning of families. We recognise that the dynamics of domestic violence and the safety needs of both children and non-abusing parents must be considered in making appropriate arrangements for children's contact with abusive parents in the case of family breakdown.

I wish to acknowledge the valuable work of the child contact centres which were set up under a pilot project operated by Barnardos and One Family ...

I understand that officials from my Department are shortly due to meet with officials from the Department of Justice and Equality to discuss the potential for establishing child contact centres on a national basis.

As I stated in correspondence with the Minister, this relates to a contact centre at Togher Family Centre, of which I am a voluntary board member, although I raise this as a public representative for the constituency. The family centre has for some time been operating a contact centre. There are very few such centres in Ireland and there is considerable desire, as noted in the Minister's parliamentary question response, to see this expanded upon and this was also referenced in the pre-budget submission of the National Women's Council of Ireland. It is important that, where such services are being provided, they are adequately funded.

Togher Family Centre began offering the service in 2012 and has gone from 76 hours of access then to 759 hours of access in 2016, and with 671 hours so far this year, it is likely to surpass that level of access. The need for this service is very clear. It has made an enormous contribution to families throughout Cork city and beyond, and has done so largely at the cost of the board and of the centre itself. While there is some staff funding from Tusla for cases of children in care, this will now be on a case-by-case basis, which is not sustainable, and there are other families who require the service.

I want to particularly dwell on that point. The Minister will be aware I have received correspondence from a number of practitioners in family law who are very concerned about the fact this service may no longer be available in regard to court referrals. Judge Con O'Leary, a prominent family law judge in Cork, who I believe has written to the Minister, is also concerned about this issue. The key point is that the service has been used productively and in a way that has been of great benefit to families who were referred following family law cases. The current situation is that funding is only available for Tusla referrals. Obviously, that may be the sharp end of the wedge but there is clearly a greater need. This excellent service can offer enormous support to families in trying to rebuild relationships, which is a core aim of what Tusla is about in terms of supporting families, and it can do so in a way that allows for supervised access in great comfort. I should add it is a beautiful facility. While I recognise there is funding for Tusla referrals, the lack of funding for court referrals is a problem and is an issue the Department should address.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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As the Deputy is aware, Togher Family Centre is a voluntary, community-based project located in the heart of Deanrock estate, Togher, Cork city. The centre is located in a house which has been extended and modified to meet the highest standards of health and safety. I understand the project developed from a long-established, community-based pre-school facility. Togher Family Centre provides services and supports to families and individuals in the Togher area and beyond. These include: early years education, integrated support and early identification of need; family support services; family access services; adult education; and early intervention youth work.

The Togher Family Centre provides an excellent service in line with the principles of Tusla's partnership, participation and family support programme. It receives funding from my Department for its early years education under the ECCE scheme. Funding is also provided by my Department, through Cork ETB, for its early intervention youth work. I understand it also receives funding under the school meals programme. Tusla has advised me that it provides annual funding to the centre through the grants register mechanism. The core budget funding in 2017 was €144,060 and this amount has been supplemented recently by an additional amount of €26,000. Tusla has increased the centre's core budget for 2018 to €177,000, which is an increase of almost €33,000 over the core funding provided by Tusla to the centre in 2016 and 2017.

As one element of the services provided, the centre has developed an access centre, which provides a suitable access facility while mentoring parents and improving parenting practice. The access centre was set up in these new premises with funding from Tusla in 2016.

It prioritises services to its core group of users, those being, the children in care and their families, who are clients of the local south Lee social work department.

The family access programme provides a safe, neutral and child-focused setting for children to visit their non-custodial parents. All visits and exchanges take place under the supervision of trained staff. The Togher Family Centre can arrange for supervised access through referrals from the Child and Family Agency. Supported or fully supervised access is offered, depending on the needs of the particular family. I understand that the access centre has experienced considerable demand from the family law courts in recent times and has, where possible, provided supervised access for referrals from the courts, a matter to which the Deputy referred. However, it is important to reiterate that the core work of the centre is focused on referrals from Tusla and it is not always possible for the access centre to satisfy the increased demand from private law referrals.

I assure the Deputy that my Department is committed to supporting and promoting the development, welfare and protection of children and the effective functioning of families. We recognise that the dynamics of domestic violence and the safety needs of children and non-abusing parents must be considered in making appropriate and safe arrangements for children's contact with parents in the case of family breakdown.

I take this opportunity to advise the Deputy on the provision of child contact facilities generally, a matter that he referred to in terms of the pilot project developed by Barnardos and One Family, which operated a child contact centre from October 2011 to 2013. The pilot served families in private and public law proceedings and operated in three locations in Dublin. The evaluation of the pilot recommended that such centres be rolled out nationally. As to further action, officials from my Department are shortly due to meet officials from the Department of Justice and Equality to discuss the potential for establishing child contact centres on a national basis.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Under the Child Care Act 1991, as amended, the Child and Family Agency has a general duty to provide child care and family support services and may make such provision as it considers necessary or desirable under section 69. This is a perfect example of the type of body that would be considered a family support service.

In terms of child contact centres, the Minister stated that the pilots referred to, which were in the Dublin area, related to children in care and-or whose parents were separated. She stated, "The pilot served families in private and public law proceedings and operated in three locations in Dublin." I take it from this that some of the cases that the family centre dealt with following referrals from the Courts Service were the same kinds of case dealt with by the pilot schemes in Dublin. It appears that the evaluation of the pilots was favourable. Will the Minister confirm whether I am correct in saying that? In light of the positive evaluation and the fact that the Minister is looking to roll this out nationally, will she consider it in this context?

The court referrals part of the service will probably draw to a close before the end of the year because facilitating it will not be possible in the context of current funding. I understand that a request for funding has been made. Will the Minister consider it? Does she believe that the future of these child contact centres must involve a portion of court-referred cases as well as Tusla's directly referred cases? It is a core part.

I should emphasise that this is essentially a regional service. It does not just serve Cork city, but the whole of County Cork and beyond, because there are no other services of its kind in the region.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I was struck by the fact that one of the objects of the Togher Family Centre's mission is to deliver "exceptional Early Years and Youth Services where the voice of the child is encouraged, heard and respected". This undoubtedly underpinned the development of the access centre, which was innovative. Through Tusla, my Department supported its establishment and additional funding has been provided to it to support its excellent work.

Regarding moneys to support services for court referrals to the access centre, which is the specific issue that the Deputy has raised, my colleagues in the Department of Justice and Equality and I have an open mind about the positive aspects of the evaluation of the pilot projects. I acknowledge the excellent work being done in the community centre that the Deputy identified. Officials from my Department are meeting officials from the Department of Justice and Equality to discuss the potential for establishing these centres on a national basis. I must wait for recommendations stemming from that meeting or series of meetings before I can make any decision on the centre in question, but we have provided it with additional funding for 2016, 2017 and 2018.