I thank Deputy Buckley for raising this important issue and for offering me the opportunity to respond. As a former board member of the Cara Phort Family Resource Centre in my home village of Ballynacarrigy, I know first-hand the work these family resource centres undertake. As Deputy Buckley has outlined so eloquently regarding the resource centres in his own constituency, they really do invaluable work in the communities they serve. In April 2024 the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth announced €1.5 million in additional funding for family resource centres. When I was a Government backbencher, I advocated quite forcefully for the need for additional funding for resource centres. The purpose of the allocation was to bring the core funding of the family resource centre programme members to a new base level of €160,000 in 2025 and to immediately provide additional funding for 2024 to the lowest-funded centres. The funding was intended to allow the centres to increase their staffing complements in some cases and to support the pivotal role the centres play in many communities. Some 54 centres around the country benefited from this measure. Any future increases to core funding across the programme will be built off this new level. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is aware the family resource national forum has expressed a desire for core funding of €220,000 to €250,000, as Deputy Buckley has highlighted today. Its rationale will be considered when planning for any future changes to core funding. Family resource centres will benefit from any further funding awarded to section 39 and section 56 bodies for pay related costs, and this will further increase the current core funding they receive. It is important to acknowledge that core funding of more than half the programme membership was already greater than €160,000 and in many cases, significantly so. The Minister supports the vital role played by family resource centres, which provide a comprehensive range of services tailored to individual community needs at low or no cost to many clients. As part of a range of measures aimed at reducing childhood poverty, the current programme for Government commits to working to increase funding and to expand the capacity and network of family resource centres. In the context of expansion, funding of €800,000 was secured by the Department as part of budget 2025. The commissioning unit of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, will manage the selection process. Five new centres are expected to be operational by summer 2025, with core funding of €160,000 applying to each centre. Core funding is only one element of funding that family resource centres can avail of. Core funding comes from the Minister’s Department and is administered by Tusla, but many family resource centres obtain additional funding from other Departments, State agencies and private sources. This allows them to expand the scope and reach of their services and to tailor them to the needs of their communities. There are currently 121 family resource centres nationwide. They are usually located in disadvantaged areas and serve as vital hubs for a wide range of community activities, catering to all age groups from early childhood to senior citizens. They offer universal and targeted services, including information and support, education courses, counselling, community group development and practical assistance. They also address specific needs such as integration supports for Ukrainian refugees and international protection applicants. In partnership with Tusla, family resource centres operate a prevention and early intervention approach offering support to all children and families in their community, while also targeting those most in need and those at risk of harm. In 2023, 129,305 people participated in family resource centre initiatives, highlighting their importance in fostering social inclusion and lifelong learning.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I thank the Deputy for his honest and sincere contributions this evening. It is clear that he places a huge value, as do I, on family resource centres. The Minister is very pleased that 2025 will see the family resource centre programme expanding, with the provision of five new centres. That expansion is an imminent and very welcome development for the programme, its member organisations and the communities the new centres will serve. We must acknowledge that the previous Government brought the base level of funding up to €160,000. For the Cara Phort resource centre and the one in Athlone, that is an increase of more than €40,000 per annum in core funding, which is a most welcome development. The resource centre to which the Deputy referred is at the €160,000 level. We must acknowledge and welcome that. However, we need to go further. I agree with him that while there are many other funding opportunities and streams, it takes time and effort for centres to access them. That effort diverts the attention of the staff away from the critical services they provide. They are working with people who are very vulnerable in their respective communities, with counselling provided right across the spectrum of age brackets, from early intervention to dealing with senior citizens. They provide an invaluable service. I would like to see the funding being made more streamlined, with a block grant given every year, in order that staff can concentrate their time and efforts on providing the services that are needed in their communities. I guarantee the Deputy that I will take on board his suggestions and relay them back to the Minister, Deputy Foley. I support what he has said. I raised my concerns in this area with the Minister in the previous Government, Deputy O'Gorman. I was pleased to see he took on board those concerns. We have increased the core funding to €160,000 but we need to build on that further. I will take what the Deputy has said this evening back to the Minister, Deputy Foley.

Sentiment score: 0.28

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education, to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the multiple projects specified in the Deputy’s request, namely, Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew, Gorey Community School, St. John's senior primary school in Arklow and Bunclody Community College. Since 2020, the Department has invested more than €5.7 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 1,150 school building projects. Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in the coming months, investments by the Department of Education are adding more than 550,000 sq. m of new and modernised capacity to our school estate. The length of time a project takes to deliver depends on several factors, including scale and complexity, and is subject to the time it takes to progress through the various design stages and the statutory approval process. The Coláiste Bhríde project has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects. The project will provide a new build replacement school for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils, including a four-class special educational needs base. The project is currently in the final stages of stage 2b, which is the post-planning process, and once this stage has been finalised and approved, the next stage is onwards to tendering and construction. The National Development Finance Agency will engage directly with the school authorities to keep them informed of the progress. The Gorey Community School project was devolved to the school authority for delivery as part of the additional school accommodation scheme. The project brief will deliver five general classrooms, four special educational training rooms, one art room, one home economics room, one science room with preparation area and ancillary area. The project is currently at stage 1, which is early design, and the addendum report has been received by the Department and is currently under review. Once this review has been completed, the Department will contact the school authorities and advise on the next steps to progress this much-needed project. St. John's senior primary school submitted an application for funding under the emergency works scheme for external environment works to its playground. The emergency works scheme operates on the basis of a minimal scope of works required to remedy an emergency situation and on this basis, the school was advised to submit a revised scope of works with an accompanying itemised cost breakdown. Once this has been received, the emergency works scheme team will review the revised application and will engage further with the school as appropriate. The emergency works scheme team is aware of the urgent nature of the works required and will keep the school informed throughout the progress. The Bunclody Community College project has been devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board to provide a new extension and refurbishment of an existing building. The tender short-listing process under the management of the ETB is nearing its conclusion. Once this process is complete, the project will progress to tender and construction in due course. Waterford-Wexford ETB will be engaging directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress. I again thank the Deputy for providing the opportunity to outline the Department of Education's position in relation to these four projects. As I have outlined, the Department will continue to engage with the relevant school and delivery authorities to progress these much-needed projects as quickly and as practicably as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.23

I again thank Deputy Brennan for raising these issues, and for doing so quite forcefully on behalf of the respective schools and articulating their positions. The Deputy is correct in saying that it is so important when we are making these investments in the schools that we get it right and that we put in place the services the schools need and the pupils and the teaching staff deserve for their respective schools. It is critically important as well to continue to engage with the schools, as the school building unit does, to be fair to it, and to keep them informed. That is what the school authorities need to know. They need to know how their application is progressing. They need to know that if there is an issue that it has to respond to it in a timely fashion, so that it can progress through the various stages. It is not under my remit but the Deputy can be assured that the concerns he raised this evening will be relayed to the Minister, who will work with the officials to try to ensure we meet the expectations of the schools in question.

Sentiment score: 0.46