Vol. 520 No. 1
33 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if, in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, it is intended to develop and expand the family services pilot programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15027/00]
Pilot projects to enhance information services for families are under way in three local offices of my Department in Waterford, Cork and Finglas in Dublin. The projects build on the one-stop-shop concept with the aim of providing improved access to information for families through local social welfare offices. The overall objective of the family services project is to provide a high quality information service about the range of supports available to families from State agencies and from the community and voluntary sector, with a particular emphasis on the services available locally.
The expanded range of family services on which information is available includes marriage counselling and marriage preparation programmes, bereavement counselling and support services, information about parenting issues, including local child care services where this information is available, and the State family mediation service. The latest information technology will be used to support the family services project. Within the pilot project an enhanced programme of support is available to a small group of customers with complex needs, for example, very young lone mothers, other parents rearing children without the support of a partner and dependent spouses in households with children depending on social welfare payments. It is hoped the additional support involving individual attention, customised information and enhanced access to services and supports which would assist the family, will enhance the capacity of those in the most difficult family circumstances to improve their personal situations.
The family services project is the subject of ongoing evaluation during the pilot phase which will continue throughout this year. The evaluation will identify the resource and management issues to be addressed in the provision of this family focused service, as well as assessing its effectiveness in meeting the needs of families and its potential to improve local co-ordination of community support for families. The outcome of the evaluation will inform proposals for the progressive expansion of the successful elements of the pilot programme in line with the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and for which the Government has provided £12 million over the period 2000-2006 in the National Development Plan.
Additional Information
The project draws on the Government's “pro-families” approach to the development of policies and services for families, the recommendations of the Commission on the Family, and the strategy statement of my Department, which commits the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to promote policies which protect and support families, including the development of service delivery to address the different needs of customers and the creation of stronger links with partner agencies and voluntary organisations at local level.
I thank the Minister for that information, but would he agree that, so far, the pilot schemes have been spread over three relatively small areas? I understand that £12 million is available for this programme over six years, but that is far too little. Would the Minister agree that the range of services needs to be increased and concentrated upon? Does the Minister see any role, for example, for the family services project in the current small holocaust of deaths throughout northside and southside communities from drug-related addiction and crime? In some districts social workers think there should be counselling for all young people because such significant numbers have died in recent months.
As regards information technology, would the Minister agree it is critical that in future we should gather much more comprehensive information? If the Minister is going to frame his 25 most disadvantaged areas by December this year, surely he needs widespread statistical information on the kind of issues I have raised.
The Deputy is mixing up a number of issues. The 25 areas will be designated under a separate process which is set out in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The family services project is completely different, although it is also referred to in the programme. The Department estimates that the £12 million which has been allocated is sufficient to be spread out progressively over that period. It is a very focused campaign. The initial reaction and evaluation is that it is being supported positively by those who have entered the process. It will not solve all the problems the Deputy referred to and other agencies have primary responsibility for those issues. However, it is one of the matters that will be taken into account. The key to the family services project is that it will co-ordinate the community response at local level and provide an agency response to the issues. It will try to educate those people, particularly younger lone parents and families in difficulty.
At the weekend, the Minister may have noticed that an interesting index was published in The Sunday Times on the perform ance of all the health boards in England. The abstract statistical index ranged from the best, in the leafy home counties, to the worst, which tended to be in old industrial cities such as Manchester. It seems to me that the Minister and his colleague, the Minister for Health—
The Deputy must ask a supplementary question.
We need information for the programme to be properly run. The Minister does not have the information and he is doing nothing to gather it.
That is not a question, Deputy.
It is a question.
The Deputy should ask questions.
If it is a question, I totally reject the implication. I was the Minister who set up the family services project; it was my initiative under the aegis of the family affairs unit of my Department. The unit was established by the Government and by no other Administration. Therefore, we are responding to the issue of families, particularly in disadvantaged areas, and are doing so in this focused way to allow them to benefit.
Some £2 million for the whole country?
Unlike the Deputy, I do not have the luxury of reading The Sunday Times. It is not on my mailing list, whatever about the Deputy's.
