Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 665: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount of money allocated to the family resource agency; the amount of money allocated to each family resource centre; the location of family resource centres; the number of people employed in each family resource centre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29915/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Funding for the Family Support Agency amounts to almost €36 million for 2009.

The main functions of the Agency include:-

The Family and Community Services Resource Centre (FRC) Programme

The scheme of grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage, child and bereavement counselling and related services

The Family Mediation Service

Funding for the FRC Programme amounts to over €18 million for 2009, supporting 107 Family Resource Centres (FRCs) nationwide. The aim of this Programme is to combat disadvantage and support families in coping with difficulties. The emphasis in the FRCs is on the involvement of the local community in developing approaches to tackle the problems they face and on creating successful partnerships between the voluntary and statutory agencies in the area concerned. FRCs assess the needs of their local communities and ensure that there are services and supports in place to address these needs.

The additional information in respect of each FRC is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 666: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has achieved savings of €29.796 million announced on 8 July 2008; the way these savings were made; the target savings to be made in 2009; the way these savings will be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29916/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

On 8 July 2008 the Minister for Finance announced a range of measures which would be taken across the public service to control expenditure in 2008 to achieve savings on the Revised Estimates previously agreed for the public service. In the case of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the expenditure control measures being undertaken were intended to achieve savings of €29.796 million.

These included savings on the Department's administrative budget in the areas of advertising and IT external service provision; a number of additional control activities; the deferment of the introduction of the Personal Advocacy Service by the Citizens Information Board; a reduction in funding to the Family Support Agency for new Family Resource Centres and the refurbishment of Family Mediation Service offices and reductions in spending on conferences, advertising and awareness raising activities by the Combat Poverty Agency.

The targeted savings were achieved in 2008.

The estimates approved by the Dáil in May 2009 include provision for reduced expenditure across a range of areas in 2009, some of which were a consequence of the measures introduced last year. However, no specific savings targets have been announced since the publication of the Revised Estimates Volume.