Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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31. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the supports his Department provides for local area child poverty action plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43340/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ireland’s National Action Plan under the European Child Guarantee commits to establish four pilot Child Poverty Local Area Action Child Poverty Action Plans in Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) areas.

In 2024, my Department is providing €378,000 to establish four pilot Local Area Child Poverty Action Plans to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children, young people, and their families under my Department’s What Works initiative, funded by Dormant Accounts.

The Scheme was designed by my Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development, in consultation with the Department of the Taoiseach’s Child Poverty and Well Being Office.

The objective of these pilot plans will be to achieve better service integration and improve access to available services for disadvantaged children, young people, and their families.

The underpinning assumption that is to inform the Local Area Child Poverty Action Plans is that outcomes for children and families can be improved by first gaining a detailed understanding of the child poverty problem in each area, and then using this information to promote experiences of enhanced service integration.

Under this scheme, Children and Young People’s Service Committees (CYPSC) and their Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) were invited to submit a joint application for up to €100,000 in funding to design and implement a pilot plan that will respond to their local realities and context. Further to an assessment process, funding was awarded to

1.Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and Wicklow Children and Young People’s Service Committees and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Wicklow Local Community and Development Committee - €100,000.

The pilot focuses on early childhood (pregnancy to age 4) and aims to improve service coordination and family support, addressing systemic and intergenerational factors contributing to child poverty.

2. Kildare Children and Young People’s Service Committees and Kildare Local Community and Development Committee - €100,000.

The pilot aims to improve access to services for disadvantaged families with neurodivergent children by piloting Community-Based Occupational Therapy in Family Resource Centres; Flexible Referral Criteria; providing simultaneous support for professionals, parents, and children to build understanding and skills across all parties involved; piloting Plural Practice Model using recreational activities tailored to each child's needs to improve social communication and emotional regulation.

3. Monaghan Children and Young People’s Service Committees and Monaghan Local Community and Development Committee -€93,000.

The pilot aims to address issues such as intergenerational patterns, difficult household conditions, migrant status, and those who are experiencing mortgage arrears through the use of a "Family Champion" role to coordinate support providing tailored assistance and advocating for their needs while aiming to improve engagement with existing services and address the root causes of poverty.

4. Tipperary Children and Young People’s Service Committees and Tipperary Local Community and Development Committee - €85,000. The pilot aims to enhance living conditions and reduce child poverty by improving energy efficiency and service integration. The pilot will focus on energy auditing and profiling to improve household energy efficiency and security and will assess how these interventions impact poverty indicators.

I also wish to inform the Deputy that my Department is engaging an evaluator to undertake a comparative study between the four pilots to support a robust assessment and measurement of the impact of the four pilots. As part of the overall evaluation the pilots will also have the opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other, so that this can be incorporated in capturing how the pilots can be rolled out more widely.

These pilots are undertaking important initiatives to better support innovation and collaboration between local organisations with a view to improving access to services for disadvantaged children, young people and their families.