William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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882. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the investment and actions her Department will take to strengthen prevention and early intervention services for children and families, particularly those experiencing disadvantage, trauma or adversity; the number of new community-based programmes which will be funded in the next year; the way in which outcomes will be evaluated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61521/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy that the Department, along with Tusla, have responsibility for a number of services that are contributing to strong prevention and early intervention actions across the country. Updates on these are provided below.

Parenting Supports

Parenting supports come in a vast array of individual, formal and informal interventions, from universal to targeted supports, to support parents with children from pre-birth up to the teen age. The ‘Supporting Parents’ National Model of Parenting Support Services (2022-2027) is being implemented in partnership with Tusla, HSE and C&V sector partners. The vision of Supporting Parents is for all parents to be confident and capable in their parenting role, helping to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.

Examples of Parenting Supports

Several standardised evidence-based programmes are now delivered by Tusla in communities, as well as funded by Tusla and delivered through Tusla’s community and voluntary sector partners. Some of the key programmes include (this list is not exhaustive):

• Ante-natal Parenting Supports: Several programmes support parents to psychologically prepare for their baby’s arrival, merging into universal supports offered by the HSE maternity services. Programmes in this space include Mellow Bumps, Preparing for Life and the Up to Two Programme.
• Newborn Observation (NBO): The Newborn Behavioural Observations (NBO) system™ is an infant-focused, family centred, relationship-based tool, designed to sensitise parents to their baby's competencies and individuality, to foster positive parent-infant interactions, and contribute to the development of a positive parent-infant relationship from the very beginning.
• Circle of Security: The Circle of Security Programme (COSP) is underpinned by attachment theory as part of an intervention for caregivers, focusing on helping caregivers reflect upon children’s attachment needs to promote secure and positive attachment with the child. There are two core COSP, one for licensed clinicians and the other for any professional working with young children and their families.
• Incredible Years (IY): There is a broad suite of IY parenting and child-focused programmes. The IY parenting programmes focus on strengthening parenting competencies and fostering parent involvement to support and promote their children’s academic, social and emotional skills, and to reduce behavioural and conduct disorders. The parent intervention programmes are delivered across ages and stages, Baby (0-12 months), Toddler (1-3 years), preschool (3-6 years) and school age (6 – 12) years.
• Parents Plus: Parents Plus offers a suite of parenting support programmes designed for delivery in clinical and community settings. Numerous studies have demonstrated a significant impact on child behaviour problems, and parental self-efficacy.
• Triple P: Triple P’s Evidence Based Positive Parenting Programmes offers simple, practical strategies that have been proven to work, helping parents raise happy, confident children. Triple P is delivered through a variety of one-off workshops, as well as group-based programmes. As with other models, a suite of programmes is available for different stages of children’s development. The most recent programme Fearless, supports parents where there is a presentation of childhood anxiety.
• Traveller Parent Support Programme: The Traveller Parent Support Programme offers culturally sensitive parenting programmes for Traveller parents with children aged 1 – 5 years. Family Link workers signpost and encourage engagement in additional services required to ensure that young Traveller children are reaching their developmental milestones and achieving their potential.
• Young Parents Support Programme (ESF+ co-funded parenting supports): Formerly the Teen Parents Support Programme, the programme has been expanded to reach parents up to 25 years, who would benefit from additional support, with a view to improving outcomes for these parents and children across a wide variety of measures, including education, employment and housing.

Home visiting programmes provide support and guidance to expectant parents and parents of babies and young children, promoting infant and child health, fostering educational development and school readiness, and helping to prevent child abuse and neglect.

The Tusla National Home Visiting Programme, established in 2024, focuses on coordinating services, collecting data, and setting national standards to ensure effective, evidence-based Home visiting. Funding from the Children’s Fund (Action 18 of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions) has been allocated over the period 2024-2028 to expand Home Visiting services in Ireland.

In 2024/5, 13 Home Visiting services have been established or expanded via the Children’s Fund, increasing the accessibility of Home Visiting services for more children and families throughout Ireland. Tusla leads on the implementation of the National Home Visiting Programme, in collaboration with the Department and the HSE.

Alongside the Home Visiting programmes, Family Support Workers and Home School Community Liaison teachers also utilise Home Visiting as a mechanism through which individualised parenting support is offered.

Specific European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) co-funded parenting supports delivered by Tusla

• Young Parents Support Programme: Formally Teen Parents Support programme, the programme has been expanded to reach parents up to 25 years, who would benefit from additional support, with a view to improving outcomes for these parents and children across a wide variety of measures, including education, employment and housing. Six new greenfield sites have been established where YPSP was not previously available : Kildare, Clare, Sligo/Leitrim and Westmeath/Longford. Eleven sites have been expanded to include the increased age range.
• IPAS Family Support Practitioner Posts: the recruitment of 20 Family Support Practitioner posts to support the pathway for integrated child and family support to cover the IPAS accommodation locations across Tusla areas. This helps to ensure children, and their parents will have access to an effective and efficient integrated pathway of family support services for the duration of time spent in each individual centre.
• 30 Parenting Support Advisors will be recruited in 2026 to coordinate parenting supports in Tulsa Network Areas.

• With funding from the Department, Tusla supports the provision by community and voluntary organisations of counselling/psychotherapy/therapeutic services to children and young people experiencing social/economic disadvantage in communities around Ireland. This funding will continue into 2026.
• The types of counselling services funded include One-to-One Counselling, Art Therapy, Play Therapy, Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy and Support Groups.
• The impacts on children, young people and families include increased engagement with school/education/training, strengthened ability to maintain positive mental and emotional health, development of coping strategies to manage adverse situations, building of communication and social skills and improved relationship with parent/s and family members.
• Counselling services are provided at no to low-cost for clients who may otherwise be unable to access services due to cost or location.

• The Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme is a community development initiative supported by multiple State agencies and Government departments.
• FRCs are usually located in disadvantaged areas and serve as vital hubs for a wide range of community activities, catering to all age groups from early childhood to senior citizens.
• The Department allocates core funding for the FRC Programme, and Tusla administers the FRC Programme.
• FRCs provide a range of universal and targeted services and development opportunities that address the needs of families, including many parenting support services.
• A central feature of the FRC programme is the involvement of local people in identifying needs and developing needs-led responses. Given this context, the services provided by FRCs vary depending on the community.
• FRC Programme membership recently increased from 121 to 126 members nationwide. This followed an open call for new members, with the selection process managed by Tusla.
• Thanks to funding secured as part of Budget 2026, the number of Programme members will increase again in 2026, rising to 136 members and benefiting a further ten communities.

Policy and strategic direction for the Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) initiative is provided by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. CYPSC are county-level committees that bring together the main statutory, community and voluntary providers of services to children and young people. CYPSC provide a forum for joint planning and co-ordination of activity to ensure that children, young people and their families receive improved and accessible services. Their role is to enhance inter-agency co-operation.

What Works

The What Works initiative was launched in 2019 to take a coordinated approach to enhancing capacity, knowledge and quality in this area for children, young people and their families.

What Works is funded by Dormant Accounts and administered by the Department. Since 2019, What Works has funded projects, events, funding schemes and training initiatives focused on prevention and early intervention.

What Works has four key strands to embed and enhance prevention and early intervention in children and young people’s policy, service provision and practice. The four strands are:

(1) Data, (2) Evidence, (3) Professional development and learning, and (4) Quality. Further information on these strands can be found at

In 2024 and 2025 the Department provided €378,000 each year (€756,000 in total) through the What Works initiative to establish four two-year Local Area Child Poverty Action Plan pilots that will address the challenges of child poverty. Work has been ongoing in four Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) and their Children and Young People’s Service Committees (CYPSC) in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and Wicklow, Kildare, Monaghan and Tipperary. This collaborative approach offers the CYPSC and LCDCs an opportunity to design a pilot plan that will respond to local realities and context. The pilots will explore how to enhance access to vital supports in the areas of early years, food and fuel poverty, for those facing challenging circumstances, and for disadvantaged families with neurodivergent children.

On the Department’s behalf the Centre for Implementation Research at the University of Limerick (CIRcUL) is engaging with the four pilots to support a robust assessment of the pilots and measurement of the impact of the pilot outcomes including consideration of the mainstreaming potential of each of the pilots, and expansion nationally. This evaluation will end in late 2026.

What Works has also led a series of funding schemes for community and voluntary organisations providing prevention and early intervention services to children. In 2025, €330,000 has been made available under the What Works Enhancing Quality Fund – based on the Quality strand of What Works. The aim of the Quality strand is to align, enhance and sustain quality in prevention and early intervention as it relates to the development and delivery of policy, provision and practice for children and young people. The successful applicants for this scheme will be announced over the coming weeks.

Many of the prevention and early intervention initiatives listed are evidence-based interventions. Many will have ongoing evaluation processes built into their delivery schedules to ensure the interventions are achieving their intended outcomes.