Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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620. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a national organising committee has been or will be put in place to organise events in 2014 for the 20th anniversary of the international year of the family; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49262/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Twentieth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family is a UN initiative. It is described as an 'opportunity to refocus on the role of families in development; take stock of recent trends in family policy development; share good practice in family policy making; review challenges faced by families worldwide and recommend solutions’. Obviously the scope of the initiative is very broad and has relevance to various Departments and agencies. The focus of the initiative has particular resonance in the context of children and family services in Ireland, given the decision taken by Government to establish a new Child and Family Agency from January next year.

The legislation to establish the new Agency, the Child and Family Agency Bill, is progressing through the Oireachtas at present, and it is my intention that the Agency will be established from 1st January 2014. The policy intent in framing the functions of the Child and Family Agency has been to broaden the scope of the Agency beyond the traditional concept of child welfare and protection and to place emphasis on family support as an essential and discrete area of activity. In this regard specific attention has been paid to strengthening and consolidating the family support function within the Child and Family Agency Bill, which will encompass both the existing family support obligations imposed by the Child Care Act 1991 (and currently discharged by the HSE) along with the important work undertaken by the Family Support Agency (FSA). Family support is being viewed not only as a response to identified welfare and protection needs, but as a preventative strategy generally. This is in line with the general commitment to broaden the scope of the Agency and to underline the intended policy shift to an approach based more on prevention and early intervention strategies. There are a number of operational policy initiatives also underway within the HSE focused on consolidating and focusing their activities in respect of family support. Submissions to the Department in the context of consultation on the National Policy Framework have also identified the challenges for parents and families in modern society and good practice measures to support families.

All of these initiatives will be coming to fruition over the coming period into 2014 and have enormous resonance with the 20th Anniversary. I am currently considering the best approaches to mark this year.