Michael Healy-Rae
Question:580. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the support she will offer to an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49928/12]
View answerTuesday, 13 November 2012
Questions (580, 581)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:581. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if funding that will be provided to an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49929/12]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 580 and 581 together.
The Family Support Agency provides funding to voluntary and community organisations providing marriage, relationship, child and bereavement counselling services. Some 600 organisations are funded each year. These services aim to support people to deal with difficulties they are experiencing in their relationships, to help children whose lives have been affected by parental separation and to support families who have experienced the death of a family member. Over 17,000 individual counselling sessions were delivered within Family Resource Centres in 2011. Of these individual counselling sessions, over 4,000 concerned bereavement. In 2011, the Family Support Agency provided funding of €8,800 to the organisation in question under the scheme of grants to voluntary organisations for the provision of counselling services. In addition, the Family Support Agency last year provided €10,000 to the Irish Childhood Bereavement Network to fund a scoping study on the feasibility and necessity of a bereavement network. I subsequently launched such a Network in July 2012. The Network is a hub for those working with bereaved children, young people and their families and aims to improve access to bereavement information, allow for the sharing of expertise, knowledge and experience and improve the range and quality of bereavement support available to children, young people and, crucially, those caring for them. In this respect it is very welcome. The Network is being hosted for an initial period by the Irish Hospice Foundation. It will be the subject of an interim review after two years and an evaluation after five years. The organisation referred to by the Deputy was part of the Steering Committee which oversaw the development and completion of the scoping study on the establishment of the Irish Childhood Bereavement Network. The Network is in the early stages of development and is currently inviting members, with a target of 70 members set for the first year. I am advised by the Family Support Agency that it provides funding to many of the members of the Network and that any collaboration which improves efficiencies is to be welcomed. Finally, the Deputy will wish to note that the Government has previously announced that the functions of the Family Support Agency will transfer to the new Child and Family Support Agency upon its establishment in 2013.