The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD, today
(31 December, 2013) announced that the Child and Family Agency will
commence operation with effect from 1 January, 2014. The Agency will assume
responsibility for a range of services, including:
Child Welfare and Protection Services, including family support services
currently delivered by the HSE’s Children and Family Services;
Existing Family Support Agency responsibilities;
Existing National Educational Welfare Board responsibilities;
Pre-school Inspection services;
Domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services;
Community-based services related to the psychological welfare of
children and families.
Minister Fitzgerald said “The 2011 Programme for Government committed to
fundamentally reforming the delivery of child protection services by
removing responsibility for child welfare and protection from the HSE and
by creating a dedicated Child Welfare and Protection Agency. It also
committed to reforming the model of service delivery and improving
accountability to the Dáil. In this context the establishment of the Agency
is a concerted response to critical systemic failures in delivering
services to vulnerable children, evidenced in a number of reports over
recent years. It has also presented the opportunity to further reform how
services to children and families can be delivered into the future.”
The range of responsibilities outlined above will contribute to the
achievement of the overall vision for the Agency, which is seeking to bring
about greater integration of services for children and families and a more
consistent focus on early intervention and community engagement.
The Minister said: “The establishment of the Agency represents the most
comprehensive reform of child protection, early intervention and family
support services ever undertaken in Ireland. It is very ambitious, and I am
keen to see the Agency discharge its new remit to the highest possible
standard. The bringing together of some 4,000 staff and an operational
budget of approximately €600m has been the outcome of detailed preparatory
work by the Secretary General and staff of my Department together with
Gordon Jeyes and his management team and also extensive legislative work to
establish the Agency over many months in the Dail and Seanad.
The Minister continued: "The setting-up of this Agency will mean that for
the first time child protection and associated services will be together
under one dedicated
agency with clear lines of management, more integrated models of working
and a ring-fenced budget.
While many challenges remain and while more service developments are needed
and planned, this major organisational reform in itself lays the
foundations for development of world-class child protection, welfare and
family support service in Ireland."
The Agency will operate under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013 which
was recently signed into law. Minister Fitzgerald said: “I was anxious that
the new Agency would operate within a strong framework of public
accountability, and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 sets this out in
detail. I will also be in a position to determine specific operational
priorities, in line with Government objectives, and these will be
communicated to the Agency and incorporated into its corporate planning
process, in due course.”
“I wish all of the incoming staff well as Establishment Day finally arrives
and also wish them well into the future. Finally, I want to convey every
good wish to the incoming Board of the Agency.”