Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 July 2014
651. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which he is satisfied regarding the adequacy of his Department's budget to meet requirements in the course of the current year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28514/14]
View answerThe Revised Estimates for Public Services 2014 allocated gross funding of €997m to my Department. This comprises over €955 million in current funding and €42 million in capital funding. When Appropriations in Aid are taken into account, the net current funding allocated to my Department in 2014 is some €974.3 million. This level of funding (€997m) represents an increase of over €558 million on the 2013 Estimate of €439 million and the significant investment shows that, while operating within the difficult Budgetary constraints, this Government is strongly committed to delivering important reforms and service developments to support children and families. I would also point out that my Department has received an additional €5m capital allocation under the stimulus programme which will allow for increased capital expenditure which will further benefit children.
I consider that the estimate provision for my Department will facilitate the delivery of a significant level of public services along with a number of new policy measures that include:
- The establishment of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) which took effect on 1st January 2014. Tusla have an allocation of €609 million, including €7m in capital provision. This allocation is for the continuing provision of services previously administered by the Health Service Executive (H.S.E.), National Education Welfare Board (NEWB), and the Family Support Agency (FSA). The overall level of funding which is significant by any measure, will help the agency respond to demand and to the needs of clients. It will help to improve both the level and the quality of services.
- An additional €4 million to support implementation of the Pre-School Quality Agenda which seeks to support high standards through supporting the efforts of providers and their staff in delivering improved and more reliable quality; and to respond to concerns raised by parents;
- An increase of €1.5 million in funding to address child poverty through the new Area Based Childhood (ABC) programme. This will bring to €4 million the State funding to be invested in this initiative in 2014. The total budget allocation for the programme over the period 2013 – 2016 is almost €30 million.
- €31m in capital funding to facilitate the continuation of construction work on the new Children Detention School facilities in Oberstown, Lusk, Co. Dublin. The timeline for the project will see the first three residential units available in the third quarter of 2014 and will be prioritised for the transfer of 17 year old boys from adult prison facilities, currently in St Patrick`s Institution.
Other important areas being supported in 2014 are the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which has a funding provision of €175 million. Some 4,300 preschool services are participating in the programme and approximately 68,000 children are currently benefiting from it. In addition, in excess of €50 million is also being made available to support the delivery of a range of youth work programmes and services by the voluntary youth sector for all young people including those in disadvantaged communities.
