Family Support Services.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2004

Wednesday, 1 December 2004

Questions (152)

Jerry Cowley

Question:

181 Dr. Cowley asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if additional funding of €20,000 will be provided for a project (details supplied) in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31738/04]

Written answers

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr. Brennan)

The project in question is funded under the scheme of grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage, child and bereavement counselling services, which is administered by the family support agency. The group was awarded grant aid of €40,000 for 2004 for the provision of marriage counselling, marriage preparation courses, separation and bereavement counselling and support, including the rainbows programme. This represented an increase of 32% on the 2003 allocation.

An award of €1,000 was made to the group under the Government's special awards scheme to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Family, towards the costs of providing a number of workshops on family related themes. Neither of these schemes provides for the employment of staff. My Department's family and community services resource centre programme provides financial assistance to projects to assist with the staffing and equipping of local family resource centres, which provide a focal point for community development activities.

The aim of the family resource centres programme is essentially to help combat disadvantage by improving the functioning of the family unit. The emphasis in the projects is on the involvement of local communities in developing approaches to tackle the problems they face and on creating successful partnerships between the voluntary and statutory agencies in the area concerned. Family resource centres involve people from marginalised and most vulnerable groups, and from areas of disadvantage, at all levels in the project. Approval has been granted for the establishment of a separate family resource centre in the area concerned and the group involved for inclusion in the family resource centre programme is developing a workplan.