Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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280. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of the €38 million additional funding to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency in budget 2016 that is being allocated to cover the agency's new statutory functions of after-care planning under the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015; if he will provide additional funding to the agency in budget 2017 to cover its new after-care planning function. [21393/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Section 44 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 requires the Minister to issue to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency an Annual Performance Statement. This Statement provides the Agency with specific policy guidance, direction, prioritisation and resource parameters in respect of each year for the preparation of its annual business plan.

Within 30 days of receipt of the Performance Statement, the Child and Family Agency must, under section 44 of the Act of 2013, submit a business plan to the Minister, outlining the Agency’s proposed activities for the period in question and the performance targets relating to those activities.

The Performance Statement for 2016 referred to the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 (then in Bill form before the Oireachtas) and requested that a roadmap for ensuring compliance with the Act be reflected in the business plan – including, in summary, mapping current service provision, appropriate system development to capture information in relation to children leaving care in a timely and accurate manner and compiling the financial outlay in relation to aftercare support.

The Tusla 2016 Business Plan, in the main, reflected this request (page 47, Tusla 2016 Business Plan).

An additional sum of €38m was secured for the Child and Family Agency during the Estimates and Budget process for 2016. The allocation of funding resources across the various services provided by Tusla is determined in the context of the business planning process by the Board of the Agency. The plan does not provide a disaggregated budget in respect of aftercare provision as a discrete element (or indeed aftercare planning as a sub-set within that). Aftercare provision involves pay, non-pay as well as specific grant-giving elements of the budget.

The Estimate process for 2017 has commenced. My officials are currently liaising with Tusla regarding the preparation of a business case for additional resources for aftercare which, when finalised and submitted, will be considered in the context of a broad range of demands from the Child and Family Agency for additional funding.