Written answers

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Family Resource Centres

Photo of John CurranJohn Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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508. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to the announcement in budget 2018 of €40 million additional funding for Tusla, the amount the additional funding to be allocated to family resource centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43761/17]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, will receive an additional €40.6 million in funding next year. This will bring Tusla's allocation to over €753 million in 2018.

Arising from Budget 2018, I will shortly be issuing Tusla with its 2018 Performance Statement in line with the provisions of the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013. Tusla will, in response to the Performance Statement, prepare a Business Plan for 2018 which will be submitted to me for consideration.

The precise level of funding to be allocated to the Family Resource Centre Programme will be considered by Tusla, in preparing its Business Plan, having regard to the overall level of funding available in 2018, which will exceed €753 million.

It is not my intention to prescribe the overall level of funding to be allocated by Tusla to the Family Resource Centre Programme. It is more appropriate, in my view, that Tusla first sets out its proposals for this important service area, having regard to its statutory remit and taking account of the totality of funding available next year.

However, I can confirm that there will be a significant increase in funding for the Programme within the overall increase of over €40 million, including the addition of 11 Family Resource Centres to the Programme. There will be also be increased funding to support the existing Family Resource Centres across the country.

I very much appreciate the role that Family Resource Centres play in offering early intervention support to vulnerable children and families in demographically diverse communities around the country. I am pleased to be in a position to support the work of centres through the targeting of additional resources to services that will impact positively on vulnerable children and families.

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