Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. This is his first time to visit the House as Minister. I congratulate and wish him well in his term of office and have no doubt that he will do an excellent job in his portfolio.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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By leave of the House, I would like to share my time with Senator Michael Mullins.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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That is agreed.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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I also welcome the Minister. I served with him on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, which was a pleasure. I congratulate him on his elevation to higher office and wish him well in it. He has a very important brief and I am very grateful that he has been able to come to the House so soon after taking up his post to discuss an issue which relates to the crossover from the HSE to Tusla, or the Child and Family Agency as it might be known, and the different services being transferred. I am raising the case of Ballinasloe Therapeutic Learning Centre which delivers a number of programmes for children and families in the Ballinasloe area. Its aims are to encourage the early referral of children; provide practical support, training and advice for parents; provide an assessment facility for children; and carry out appropriate intervention programmes. It looks to develop children's life skills.

I understand that under section 10 which deals with the provision of funding by the HSE, the centre received €19,000 to deliver two particular programmes. One dealt with group speech and language therapy sessions, while the other delivered individual sessions for the children involved. My understanding is that, with the setting up of Tusla, half of this funding or more is being cut. The centre is being told that it can no longer continue the group speech and language therapy sessions. This will seriously hinder the delivery of its programmes. I understand it has made inquiries with the HSE locally through the primary, community and continuing care service and been told no funding will be available to it to cover the shortfall. I also understand staff in Tusla are quite shocked by this and the allocation the centre has been given.

There is a sense that the setting up of Tusla involves not only a reorganisation of the facilities and services but is also a cover for cutbacks to be made, of which this might be a manifestation. I hope this is not the case and that the Minister is here to tell us this has been an aberration in the change from one system to another; that this essential and very necessary service for children in the Ballinasloe area and their families can be maintained; and that heads can be banged together in respect of the funding of €10,000 which has been taken away. The HSE states it is not its problem, while Tusla states it does not have the money. I hope the Minister can take this on issue in his new role and resolve it.

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh for sharing his time and welcome the Minister.

I visited Ballinasloe Therapeutic Learning Centre last Friday when I saw for myself the fantastic work being done in it. The organisation was established in 1983 and has been funded by the HSE but will now be funded by Tusla. It is a partnership project between Ballinasloe Social Services, a voluntary organisation, and the HSE. It provides a model of service for children which ensures difficulties identified at an early age can be managed.

There are two elements to what the child care manager at the centre is doing. She works for eight hours with the HSE speech and language therapy service in providing programmes in its dedicated child care facility for small groups of children who require extra intervention owing to a delay in development and disorders. She works for eight hours per week in individual interventions on a sessional basis for children and their parents referred by the HSE, family support workers, public health nurses, early intervention teams, hospital paediatricians and child and adolescent mental health services. Some 63 children are receiving a service at the centre.

I have received a formal submission from the centre. I know that the Minister has had very little time to look at this situation, but I hope that for the want of €9,500, we will be able to ensure that from September this service can continue, given the volumes of children who benefit from it, the fact that difficulties are being identified at an early stage and that the service is helping parents to come to terms with the difficulties experienced by their children. The centre is providing an invaluable service. I extend an invitation to the Minister to spend a few minutes in the facility in the near future to see what is being done in it. The lady who runs it is amazing and the facilities provided are fantastic. I cannot say enough in support of the centre and very much appreciate Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh's sharing of time with me to support this cause.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for his kind words.

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the issue raised by Senators Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and Michael Mullins. I acknowledge the important work done by Ballinasloe Therapeutic and Learning Centre in providing a multidisciplinary service for children and families in the local community of east Galway. The centre has been in operation since 1983 and the services provided are designed to ensure the developmental needs of children can be supported and addressed at an early stage.

The issue raised by the Senators relates to the level of funding provided for the centre by the Child and Family Agency. The agency has advised that the level of funding provided for the centre has been reduced by €19,000. The agency provides funding for family support and speech and language therapy services. The reduction in funding, in the order of 2.5%, is required to introduce further efficiencies within the service and as a consequence of the development by the newly established agency of early intervention teams and the redeployment of staff. This has reduced somewhat the requirement to source services externally. I am assured by the agency that no child has been disadvantaged as a result of the realignment of services.

The continuing significant level of support from the agency is being provided at a time when all service providers are faced with particular challenges arising from the need to restore order to the public finances. In addition to the funding provided by the Child and Family Agency, my Department provides funding under the community child care subvention programme which is administered by Pobal and through the early childhood care and education programme. Funding under the community child care subvention programme for the centre for the period from September 2013 to September 2014 will exceed €16,000, while funding provided under the early childhood care and education programme amounts to €44,000 in the period from September 2013 to May 2014.

The Government is making a very significant investment, totalling more than €260 million, in child care programmes nationally. This means that close to 68,000 children benefit annually from child care places as a consequence of this expenditure. Despite the challenging budgetary position, we have succeeded in maintaining the preschool year as a universal and free programme, ensuring a significant number of children can avail of quality preschool services who would not otherwise be in a position to do so.

The Senators will appreciate that all service providers in receipt of State funding have had to generate efficiencies in service delivery. While I appreciate the challenges involved and those outlined by the Senators, we need to ensure all resources available to support the provision of early years services are fully maximised. The approach of the Child and Family Agency as outlined is consistent with this objective.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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I cannot agree with the line in Minister's response "I am assured by the agency that no child has been disadvantaged as a result of the realignment of services" because I am being told this is not the truth. I am told that there are children who will be disadvantaged, particularly those involved in group speech and language therapy sessions. I am told that their development will hindered as a result of these cuts. Perhaps this is a line the Minister has been given by the Child and Family Agency or Tusla. I, therefore, ask him to go back and investigate the matter further because I do not believe it to be the truth. I am told by those delivering the service that it is not the truth and think Senator Michael Mullins concurs with me. Will the Minister reassess the matter, ask those involved in the service about it and reassess whether the funding can be restored because its removal will certainly disadvantage children in the Ballinasloe area?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I have listened carefully to what the Senator has said. In his earlier contribution he mentioned the possibility of a facility for knocking heads together. I will certainly undertake to facilitate that process, the result of which I am unable to pronounce at this stage. It may well be that through Pobal or other agencies or, indeed, in conjunction with the Child and Family Agency, we may be in a position to examine this situation further. I have carefully noted what the Senator has said about children being placed in a disadvantaged area. I am conscious of what I have told the House in terms of children being disadvantaged so I will, with the consent of the House, revert to the agency and correspond privately with the Senators, if that is acceptable.