Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 583: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will review a matter (details supplied) regarding funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15509/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Family Support Agency, under my Department, operates the Scheme of Grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage and relationship, child and bereavement counselling services. Some 600 organisations receive funding each year, including the organisation in question, which is one of 28 larger organisations that receive multi-annual funding under the scheme.

On 5 December 2011, the Government announced the funding levels being made available to my Department in 2012. As part of the national effort to address Ireland's fiscal deficit, the Family Support Agency, like all other State bodies, has been asked to make significant savings across all the programmes which it administers. The Agency is required to achieve savings of 12% per annum over 2012 – 2014 on the costs of the Scheme of Grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage and relationship, child and bereavement counselling services. The Agency is acutely aware of the challenges that the reduction in funding raises for the voluntary organisations concerned and has asked the larger organisations to focus on identifying the scope for greater efficiency through reducing administration and overhead costs in order to protect the front line services.

The Deputy is seeking that a lower savings requirement be applied to the organisation in question in order to give them an opportunity to restructure. Such a decision would mean that a significantly greater reduction in funding would have to be borne by the other organisations funded under the programme, with consequent impact on their services. In these circumstances, it will not be possible for the Agency to accommodate this proposal. In 2012 an allocation of €26.465m has been made to the Family Support Agency to fund its services for families. This includes funding of over €9.4m for the Scheme of Grants for the counselling organisations.