Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the issue raised by Senator Conway-Walsh. The family resource centre programme was established in 1998 and was overseen by the former Family Support Agency until the transfer of responsibility to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, on its establishment in 2014. Until 2018, there were 109 family resource centres in the programme, seven of which are operational in County Mayo at Ballina, Castlebar, Westport, Claremorris, Ballyhaunis, Ballinrobe and Kilmovee. Family resource centres are independent voluntary organisations that deliver universal services to families in local communities based on a life-cycle approach. Centres seek to combat disadvantage and provide supports to improve family life. The family resource centre programme emphasises the involvement of communities in tackling the problems they face, working inclusively with service users and creating successful partnerships between voluntary and statutory organisations at community level.

In budget 2018, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, secured an additional €3 million for Tusla to support the family resource centre programme. The additional funding is being used to support existing family resource centres and to provide for the expansion of the programme with the inclusion of 11 new centres. Following a public application process, Tusla announced recently the 11 centres which are being included in the programme this year. I understand that applications to Tusla to join the programme were of a very high standard. The criteria considered included the size and make-up of the geographical area, the social and economic conditions in the specified area and the overall population breakdown of the area that would be serviced by the proposed centre. The criteria also considered the structure of the organisation applying to the programme, its objectives, targets, current relationships with other organisations and the inclusion of available research, community projects and needs assessments with the application. A high number of applications, 47 in total, were received by Tusla, one of which was from an organisation based in the Erris area of Mayo.

Tusla was faced with a difficult decision-making process to select 11 new centres for inclusion in the programme. It is important to emphasise that Tusla recently established an online virtual child and family support network for Erris and Ballina. Child and family support networks represent services which play a role in the lives of children and families in a given area such as statutory service providers and local voluntary and community services. The aim of these networks is to ensure that if a family presents to a service which cannot meet its needs, the service can redirect the family to another service which is more appropriate. The new online network will enable services to develop an understanding of the work of other providers in order to facilitate the provision of a more integrated service to families in the community. Tusla has advised that it also funds a full-time family support worker in the local area. The Mayo children and young people service committee also brings together representatives of State bodies and community and voluntary services who work with children and young people in the county. The committee is currently finalising a three-year plan for Mayo which will include an audit of services working with children, young people and families in Mayo, as well as a local needs analysis. Future commissioning of services by Tusla in County Mayo will take the completed local needs analysis into account, including any gaps in services wherever they may be identified. Through its prevention partnership and family support network, Tusla will continue to provide supports through the targeting of additional resources to services which will impact positively on vulnerable children and families.

I thank Senator Conway-Walsh for raising the matter. It is of key importance that the needs of children and families are met in the best way possible, in particular in areas of disadvantage. I assure the Senator that my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, will continue to support the work of family resource centres. Family support is a key priority for her.