Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2012
608. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the anticipated increased cost of the constitutional changes to the taxpayer in terms of the establishment of the new Child and Family Support Agency and any other costs which may be incurred; the anticipated savings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52824/12]
View answerA dedicated new budget sub-head had been established for the first time in the HSE Vote in 2012, in preparation for the planned establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency (CFSA) in 2013. In preparation for the establishment of the Agency a comprehensive due diligence and disaggregation process is underway to further review and refine the detailed components of this sub-head. In terms of the establishment of the Agency, it is anticipated that while there will be some costs attaching to its establishment but such costs will be kept to a minimum and the Agency will seek to maximise efficiencies across services through economies of scale and the usage of shared services wherever possible.
It is my intention that the new Agency will address the persistent issues which have been raised regarding the standardisation of services, communication, coordination and sharing of risk assessment, management and treatment for many of the children and families with the most complex needs. At the same time, the Agency will have a role in supporting families - providing less complex, less intrusive, less expensive responses which have a preventive function.
The new Agency and the wider transformation of children's services represents one of the largest, and most ambitious, areas of public sector reform embarked upon by this Government.
