Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she envisages improved counselling for children at risk and their families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40885/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Funding provided by my Department provides support to youth services which also offer a range of counselling supports to young people.

Teen Counselling aims to provide a professional counselling service for young people and their families who are struggling with behavioural and emotional difficulties and to inform, support and complement the role of the State sector and other voluntary organisations.

The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department has also reserved grant aid of up to €88,358 for 2012 towards the administration of the National Youth Health Programme. This programme is a partnership between my Department, the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) and the Health Service Executive

The aim of the programme is to provide a broad-based, flexible health promotion / education support and training service to youth organisations and to all those working with young people in out-of-school settings. The programme has sought to develop the capacity of the sector and organisations to advocate on issues that affect young people and develop evidenced based resources and training to support that work. The advantage of this training is evident in the fact that Youth Work often acts as the first point of contact and referral in the interface with other youth-related services spanning the realms of care, health and welfare.

The Family Support Agency under the remit of my Department administers a programme of grants for voluntary organisations that provide marriage and relationships, child and bereavement counselling services. Some 600 organisations are funded each year. In 2012, an amount of €9.413m has been allocated to this programme. These services aim to support people deal with difficulties they are experiencing in their relationships, to help children whose lives have been affected by parental separation and to support families who have experienced the death of a family member.

The Health Service Executive also provides counselling services to young people.

The HSE National Director, Mr. Gordon Jeyes, is leading a programme of reform in order to ensure that there is:

- a closer integration across family support, child protection, and child and adult mental heath services;

- better integration of services and information;

- a model of managing referrals to ensure rapid response to welfare as well as child protection concerns, known as the differential response model.

Looking to the future, the Family Support Agency will, along with the HSE’s Children and Family Services, form an integral part of the new Child and Family Support Agency, due to be established in 2013. Plans for the transition to this new entity are well under way. I believe this will provide for greater integration of these complementary services, with their shared aims of supporting parents and families and ensuring the welfare and protection of children are adequately safeguarded.