Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme.
In Budget 2019, I secured an increase of €1.5 million in funding for the FRC Programme. This brings the overall financial allocation for the Programme to €18 million.
There are no plans to establish new family Resource Centres this year.
The additional funding provided in 2019 is being used to:
- Increase core funding to each of the 110 FRCs which existed pre-2018 by 5%.
- Employ an additional 17 Family Support Workers - one FRC in each of the 17 Tusla geographical areas will be allocated funding to employ a Family Support Worker.
- Fund the Family Resource Centre Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Promotion Programme.
The application process to join the FRC programme is an operational matter for Tusla. I have requested Tusla to provide the Deputy with the requested information directly.