Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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62. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of the lack of a family resource centre in north west Kildare, in particular the Allenwood area; and if she would consider funding the development of a resource centre in the area. [50025/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that there are no members of the Family Resource Centre Programme based in the Allenwood area. The nearest Family Resource Centre Programme members are located in Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare Town. I was pleased to note that Kildare secured an additional Programme member - based in Leixlip - as part of the recent Programme expansion supported by my Department.

The commissioning of new Family Resource Centres is an operational matter for Tusla, which is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the FRC Programme. Organisations that wish to join the FRC Programme are advised to contact Tusla in the first instance to highlight their interest in the Programme. As you will appreciate, the Tusla National Commissioning Office receives frequent requests to become members of the Family Resource Centre Programme from organisations in various parts of the country. A central feature of the FRC programme is the involvement of local people in identifying needs and developing needs-led responses.

Bearing in mind that there may be capital funding costs associated with developing a resource centre, I can advise that neither my Department nor Tusla have capital funding to develop the capital infrastructure of such centres, including refurbishing vacant or derelict buildings. Tusla does not have a dedicated budget for capital or building works for third party organisations.