Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate all the great craftsmen and craftswomen as it is absolutely stunning.

I thank the Senator, my friend and former colleague, for the opportunity to discuss the planned closure of ParentStop in Donegal. ParentStop is one of many voluntary and community organisations across the country, funded by Tusla and other State agencies, which provide valuable supports to parents and children. Over the past 15 years, as the Senator outlined, ParentStop has supported families in Donegal in a complex range of situations and across the continuum of care.

Services offered by the organisation include one-to-one sessions for families with complex needs, intensive supports for children and brief intervention supports for children and families. ParentStop has assisted families dealing with range of issues, including separation, addiction, financial worries, online safety, obesity, mental health concerns, bullying, stress, and peer pressure. The contribution of ParentStop to supporting parents and their children in Donegal over the past 15 years has been immense. Thousands of families have benefitted from the services provided by the organisation and the growth in the number of families availing of its services over the past number of years reflects how much its services are valued by families themselves and people working closely with children and families in Donegal.

As one of ParentStop's core funders, Tusla has been aware of the organisation's financial difficulties, particularly those arising from the decision of the northwest regional drug and alcohol task force to withdraw funding in 2018. Under Part 8 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, Tusla funds a range of organisations that provide services to vulnerable children and families, including those providing parenting supports. Tusla must assign its resources to the areas which it perceives to be in greatest need, ensuring the best outcomes for children and families. The agency seeks to fund those services in the most beneficial, effective, efficient, proportionate and sustainable manner to improve the outcomes for vulnerable children and their families. Recognising the value of the supports provided by ParentStop to parents and families in Donegal, Tusla has taken a number of steps in recent years to assist the organisation reach a sustainable financial position. Between 2016 and 2019, annual funding provided by Tusla to ParentStop increased from €31,000 to €68,625. In 2018, Tusla provided an additional €7,000 to ParentStop to address its recurring annual deficit. The agency provided a further exceptional annual increase of €24,000 to ParentStop in 2018 following withdrawal of funding by the northwest regional drug and alcohol task force. In 2019, the agency provided further once-off funding of €18,640 to assist the organisation to invest time and resources to develop a sustainable funding model.

Unfortunately, despite the support in recent years, ParentStop has decided that it cannot continue to operate within the funding allocations available from its core funders. Tusla and the HSE have been working together in recent weeks to develop a joint proposal for the continuation of the organisation in Donegal. This includes a commitment by all parties Tusla, HSE primary care and HSE health promotion and improvement that funding for ParentStop would be maintained at the existing level for 2020, together with a review of services with a view to developing a strategic plan for the organisation's future, and an exploration of potential additional funding streams.Tusla will continue this engagement with the HSE to see if the closure of ParentStop can be prevented. I will also be meeting Tusla and ParentStop later this month to discuss the matter.