John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 539: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of staff supported by her as part of an overall project (details supplied); the funding granted since its inception through mens groups, womens groups and others; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15910/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Family Support Agency has a statutory role in relation to support services for families. The Agency operates the Family Resource Centre Programme and there are 107 Family Resource Centres nationwide, including the Family Resource Centre referred to by the Deputy.

The purpose of the Family Resource Centre Programme is to harness local community support to promote family well-being. Family Resource Centres assess the needs of their local communities and aim to ensure that there are supports in place for families to address these needs. Services such as childcare, education and training, parenting supports and information provision are targeted at the most disadvantaged families.

Details of the funding allocated by the Family Support Agency to the Family Resource Centre in question since its inclusion in the Family Resource Centre Programme in 1998, up until the end of 2010, are set out in the table in the appendix. The allocation provided by the Family Support Agency funds three posts in this Family Resource Centre.

Family Resource Centres avail of a variety of sources of funding, in addition to their Family Support Agency allocation, to meet the cost of different programmes that they run to meet local needs. I have asked the Family Support Agency to arrange for the more detailed information on funding received by this Family Resource Centre for specific projects in recent years to be forwarded directly to the Deputy.