Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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642. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the annual funding that was previously provided for a centre (details supplied) which has since been withdrawn; and the cost of reinstating this at appropriate levels. [15650/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department provided funding of €300,000 for the Barnardos/One Family Child Contact Centres pilot project over a period of two years, i.e. from mid 2011 to mid 2013. Additional funding was provided by the Health Service Executive (€60,000), the Family Support Agency (€90,000) and Ballymun Regeneration (€90,000). This service was established on a pilot basis in 2011. Based on international experience, the intention was to test a model of service aimed at meeting the needs of children whose parents are separated and/or who are in care regarding contact with the non-custodial parent(s). The funding provided allowed the service to operate on a pilot basis in three locations in Dublin i.e. Ballymun, Clondalkin and Tallaght.

The pilot project was due to close at the end of July 2013. However, following successful engagement by Barnardos and One Family with the Family Support Agency (FSA) and other funders, additional funding was allocated to allow the service continue to December 2013. The Family Support Agency provided an additional €31,800 in this regard. Due to budget restrictions, the FSA were unable to continue funding the service beyond December 2013. Currently Family Resource Centres are used as venues for such contact and arrangements are made locally. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the Family Resource Centre Programme budget for 2016, it was not possible to commit funding to the Barnardos/One Family Child Contact Centres this year.

It is worth noting that the families to be targeted included those involved in private family law proceedings or otherwise experiencing family breakdown as well as families where there were disputes regarding contact between non-custodial parents. The final evaluation report recommended that an integrated response by my Department, the Department of Justice and Equality, supported by their relevant agencies (i.e. The Child and Family Agency, the Courts Service, the Probation Service, the Legal Aid Board, the Family Mediation Service and COSC) would be the best approach to progressing the recommendations. I intend raising the matter with my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality to suggest we review the evaluation report in light of the changing infrastrucutural arrangements such as the establishment of Tusla and the proposed Family Courts Service and to examine the potential for advancing further consideration of the Final Evaluation Report's recommendations in that context.