Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 446: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the action she has taken to implement the recommendations of the May 2010 report, The Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland; her views on this report; the action she will take to rectify the current failings in the system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24916/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The report 'Supporting Child Contact:the Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland' prepared by One Family Organisation addressed the need for a service of this type to be established in the context of a wider discussion on social, health and justice related services in Ireland. My Department agreed to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of one of the reports key recommendations which was to establish a pilot child contact centre project with the aim of testing different models of provision, drawing on international experience.

I am pleased to inform you that preparations for the pilot project (which is to be operated by Barnardos) are at an advanced stage and that funding is to be provided jointly by my Department along with the HSE, Family Support Agency and Ballymun Regeneration. An initial progress report has been received and Barnardos have indicated that the project is due to commence at the end of October 2011. A single contact centre will be located on the North and South City respectively with the client base drawn from the catchment areas of the North and South Dublin City Health offices. Details of the exact locations will be announced and publicised once formal leases and letting arrangements have been finalised.

It is important to state that this project as with any pilot is partly a learning exercise and that precise details relating to mode and methodologies for referral etc will be finalised at a later stage however it is anticipated that referrals will eventually come from both Social Care Professionals and/or the Courts system. Both the systems of referral and the exact nature of services provided may change and evolve as the centres begin operating on a practical basis.

The report also recommended that an appropriate monitoring mechanism needs to be put in place to evaluate the pilot project and to help guide decisions on further provision. The funders for this project will be mainly focused for now on ensuring that the maximum amount of existing funding allocations are maintained given the very tight fiscal situation at the present time. Arrangements to put in place appropriate monitoring and evaluation will be discussed at a later stage as the energies of those involved are now concentrated on getting the centres open and the pilot service up and running.