Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 June 2021
320. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of the ABC and the PPFS programmes; and the breakdown on spend on these programmes in each of the years 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [30392/21]
View answerTusla's Prevention, Partnership and Family Support Programme (PPFS) is intended to support children, young people, parents and families in accessing preventative and support services while enabling their participation in decisions which affect their lives. It aims to prevent risks to children and young people arising or escalating through building sustainable services within Tusla and partner organisations to perform preventative and early intervention work. The programme addresses Tusla’s statutory requirement under the Child and Family Agency Act to provide ‘preventative family support services aimed at promoting the welfare of children’.
As part of this mandate, Tusla delivers the Area-Based Childhood (ABC) Programme in 12 areas of disadvantage in Ireland. The aim of the ABC Programme is to address the impacts of child poverty by enhancing protective factors and mitigating risk factors for children, young people and their families experiencing poverty. Since 2019, a budget of €9.5m has been allocated for the delivery of the Tusla's PPFS Programme, with €8.2m allocated to the ABC Programme and a further €1.3m allocated for the wider operation of the PPFS Programme. However, spending on this programme may vary according to need identified across ABC areas.
In the table below, my Department’s actual spending on the PPFS Programme, including the Tusla ABC Programme, has been given, based on drawdowns made by Tusla. Since 2021, PPFS (including the Tusla ABC Programme) has been paid as part of a general allocation for Tusla. Due to the current ICT service interruption, it is not currently possible to break down this allocation. Instead, the total budget allocation for 2021 for PPFS, including the Tusla ABC Programme, has been given.
|
Year |
Spend |
|
2019 |
€8,897,000 |
|
2020 |
€9,278,512 |
|
2021 |
€9.5m (total allocation for 2021) |
