Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount spent on area based approach to child poverty to date; and the plans and projected cost for further improvement in this year. [11372/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Since the establishment of my Department on 2nd June, 2011 and 31st December 2012, my Department has spent almost €4.944 million on the implementation of the Prevention and Early Intervention (PEIP) initiative. Some €800,000 of this has been allocated to the PEIP in 2013, its final year.

The PEIP is co-funded by my Department and Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) to examine innovative and integrated ways to improve outcomes for children. PEIP supports projects in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale. These projects involve a range of pilot programmes to improve outcomes in areas such as literacy, speech and language, parenting, health and pro-social behaviour. These programmes are currently being evaluated by national and international experts.

The three PEIP sites are expected to participate in the new Area Based Approach to Child Poverty Initiative, which was announced in Budget 2013 and will be implemented by my Department from later this year. The Initiative, which will build on and continue the work of the PEIP, will deliver the Government's commitment to adopt an area-based approach to child poverty in co-operation with philanthropic partners, drawing upon best international practice and existing services, to break the cycle of child poverty where it is most deeply entrenched. A key objective will be to improve outcomes for children and young people where these are currently significantly poorer than they are for children and young people living elsewhere in the State.

The Area-Based Approach to Child Poverty Initiative has a funding allocation of €2.500 million in 2013 and this is expected to rise to €4.750 million by 2015. It is hoped that the Initiative will be co-funded by philanthropic partners and discussions are ongoing to this end.