Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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CARI offers an important and vital service to Children who have experienced sexual abuse , and the support offered by the service to the parents of those children . The Minister, and the Department understand the vital role CARI play in providing therapy to those who have experienced sexual abuse and it is acknowledged how vital this service is for children and their families through an extremely distressing and difficult time .

CARI highlighted the issue of a financial deficit in August 2023 where it was expressed to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency and the Department that CARI would need €243,000 until the end of 2023. Tusla and the Department have been actively engaging with CARI, and additional funding was provided by Tusla in October to address the projected financial deficit by CARI at that time. The conditional agreement between Tusla and CARI was based upon CARI providing a detailed financial governance to Tusla to ensure on going core funding for 2024.

The CEO and Senior Management of Tusla are engaging with CARI actively to reach a solution. The key elements of the financial deficit for CARI have been identified by the Department. There are several key drivers which have led to cost increases including the using up of financial reserves built up over time to supplement funding shortfalls such as; an increase in running costs, decreased income from funding and under charging for the full cost of therapy.

As a Department the promotion of child welfare is the paramount concern. The initial amount required to ensure operations by CARI could function until end of year was outlined to Tusla in August 2023 and a plan was put in place on the 8th of November. This is an ongoing development that requires both Tusla and CARI to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. However, CARI's financial deficit has changed significantly from the original figure outlined to Tusla in August 2023 and upon which significant and additional once off financial funding was provided.

The Department officials are continuing to liaise with Tusla in this regard and the situation requires close review by Tusla regarding any future issues in this regard. The Department welcomes the continued communication between Tusla and CARI.