Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans for the ABC programme in 2019; the date by which she anticipates publishing the review of the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43770/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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510. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans for the ABC programme in 2019; the date by which she anticipates publishing the review of the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43781/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The ABC Programme is a joint prevention and early intervention initiative, led by the Department for Children and Youth Affairs. The Programme commenced in 2013 and was designed as a time-bound co-funding agreement with The Atlantic Philanthropies, in the amount of €29.7 million for the period 2013 to 2016. In late 2016, my Department secured additional funding to ensure that all 13 existing ABC sites could remain in contract until the end of December 2017. This brings the total funding allocated to the ABC Programme by the end of 2017 to €31.2m.

I am very pleased to announce that in this year’s budget, I have secured an additional €2.7m in funding for the ABC Programme in 2018. The extension of the programme into 2018 will align the programme with the expected timeline for delivery of the national evaluation report which is expected in April 2018.It is expected that the report will be published shortly afterwards.

A key purpose of the ABC Programme is to identify the learning in and across the ABC sites and to transfer this learning into existing and established services, in order that we can ensure a greater reach and sustained impact in services across the country. The extension into 2018 will allow for consideration of the findings from the evaluation to inform plans for the design of future community based prevention and early intervention initiatives that comprehend the Programme for Government commitments in this area.