Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 February 2014
17. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the main elements of her Department's responsibilities for children and young adults, with particular reference to the extent to which it is intended to provide or make available supportive services in areas most notably in need of such services in recent years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6573/14]
View answerMy Department was established in June 2011 with a mandate to put in place a unified framework of policy, legislation and provision across Government in respect of children and young people. In fulfilling this mandate, my Department engages in a wide range of policy and service activity, both direct and indirect, for children and young people through a number of separate, but inter-related strands including:
- the direct provision of a range of universal and targeted services;
- ensuring high-quality arrangements are in place for focused interventions dealing with child welfare and protection, family support, adoption, school attendance and reducing youth crime;
- the harmonisation of policy and provision across Government and with a wide range of stakeholders to improve outcomes for children, young people and families.
The recent establishment of the Child and Family Agency represents a central pillar of our commitment to support children, young people and their families. It delivers on a key Programme for Government commitment and represents one of the largest and most important public sector reforms undertaken by this Government, bringing together over 4,000 staff and a budget of some €609 million to provide a dedicated focus on services for children & families. The formation of the Agency brought together key services relevant to children and families including child protection and welfare services, and services previously provided by the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board. The Agency is tasked with achieving a new strategic focus, better management and consistency of approach so as to deliver a world-class service model of child welfare and protection. For the first time we have child and family social workers, family support workers, social care workers and education welfare officers all working together to protect children and support families.
I recently announced that an additional nine areas have been selected to enter the design stage of the Area-Based Childhood (ABC) Programme 2013-2016 in line with a key Programme for Government commitment bringing the total number to 13. Three existing projects which participated in the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) in Tallaght, Ballymum and Darndale have already been approved for entry into the ABC Programme and a further project in the Midlands linked to the existing "Preparing for Life" project in Darndale is also included. Its objective is to implement evidence-based prevention and early intervention programmes in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the State with a view to significantly improving outcomes for children. With 50% co-funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies, this brings total funding to nearly €30m over 2013-2016.
Significant investment, totalling more than €260m, is being provided this year by my Department to support childcare programmes. These include the Free Pre-School Year, from which approximately 68,000 children benefit annually. The financial benefit to the parent of a child participating in the free pre-school year is about €2,500 per annum.
Funding of €50.530m including €750,000 for a new capital funding programme, has been provided to my Department in 2014 for the provision of youth services and programmes to young people throughout the country through a number of schemes. These schemes include the Youth Service Grant Scheme, the Special Projects for Youth Scheme, the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund Rounds 1 and 2, Local Drug Task Force projects and certain other provisions including the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme and Youth Information Centres. This funding supports the delivery of a range of youth work programmes and services for all young people, including those from disadvantaged communities, by the voluntary youth sector.
My Department also works in close partnership with other Government departments, statutory agencies and non-governmental organisations on a range of cross-cutting issues in relation to both policy and provision as they relate to children and young people.
The 2014 Revised Estimate for my Department includes a net allocation of €974 million which represents an increase of €540 million or 124% when compared to the 2013 allocation of €434 million. This increase takes account of the dedicated funding allocated to the Child and Family Agency, and clearly demonstrates the continuing commitment of this Government to the on-going development of quality and effective services to support children and families.
