Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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526. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans for the development of child support services in the future having particular regard to challenges likely to arise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33835/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Services which support children and young people structure and span the policy and operational domains of my Department. These are foregrounded in policy through Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures and supported by structures such as Children and Young People's Services Committees. These support and guide the range of services and supports across DCYA, its agencies and constituent sectors.

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (2014-2020)is the first overarching national policy framework which comprehends the age ranges of children and young people 0 – 24 years.

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futuresputs the everyday lives of children and young people at its centre and requires Government Departments and State agencies to work together in an integrated way along with non-government organisations to improve services in order to achieve better outcomes for children and young people. The Framework provides for Five National Outcomes which we are seeking to achieve for all children and young people.

My Department is developing a national indicator set to track progress against these five national outcomes. This indicator set will, as well as tracking progress towards the Five National Outcomes, inform policy formulation and future service provision.

In terms of structures, Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures identifies Children and Young People’s Service Committees (CYPSC) as key structures for the planning and co-ordination of local children and young people services. The overall purpose of the CYPSC is to improve outcomes for children and young people through local and national interagency working. There are 23 CYPSCs across 27 local authority areas, with two further CYPSCs in the process of setting up.

Each CYPSC is required to produce a 3 year Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) which provides for the implementation of national policy, local needs and priorities. Plans will also take into account the requirements of Local Economic and Community Plans to ensure that there is complementarity between these plans and local CYPSC plans. This plan identifies local needs and available services, and seeks to address the issues affecting children and young people within the local area concerned.

Allied with these local structures are those in place such as the National Advisory Council under Better Outcomes Brighter Futures. These are all informing the identification of needs and the development of responses across the sectors and settings dealing with children and young people and through service provision in the work of the ABC Programme, Early Years, Youth and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. It is my full intention to continue to work closely with these groups and organisations to ensure that we can develop and plan the best services for children according to their needs and to ensure that such services are evidence-informed and quality focused.