Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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781. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to review an application under the family resource centre programme (details supplied); if she will outline the reasons this application was unsuccessful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51617/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the Department was not involved in the assessment process. A comprehensive national application and assessment process was undertaken, which was led by Tusla and independently chaired by a representative of the University of Limerick. All applications were reviewed and scored against the clearly defined and published criteria. This process was outlined in the Tusla outcome letters issued to all applicants. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for the Department to conduct reviews of any unsuccessful applications.

I understand that Tusla recently met with the service detailed at the request of the service, and the meeting was very positive. The service was thanked for its time, effort and interest in applying to be part of the national Programme. It welcomed the opportunity to discuss its application and how it might move forward.

It was made clear that regretfully on this occasion Tusla was only in a position to admit five new services to the Family Resource Centre Programme. This was out of a total of forty-nine applications, reflecting a very strong interest in Programme membership. The service was advised that its proposal scored strongly across the assessment criteria and was robust, well-evidenced, and strongly aligned with both community needs and Tusla’s commissioning priorities.