Joint Committee on Health and Children, 19 December 2013 Question from Senator Jillian van Turnhout to Minister for

Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD in relation to resourcing of Child and Family Agency To ask the Minister to provide a detailed breakdown of the budget and capacity of the new Child and Family Agency in relation to: income and expenditure for 2014; projected demand; core staffing levels by profession and outlining optimum levels of staffing versus anticipated levels of staffing (e.g. the number of social workers); the extent and types of outsourcing envisaged by the Agency; and the structures in place administratively, at all levels, to ensure the Agency is operational on 1 January 2014. Reply from Minister: The Child and Family Agency will have available to it the existing resources of the HSE Children and Family Services, the National Educational Welfare Board and the Family Support Agency. Processes regarding the transfer of the HSE Children and Family staff are largely finalised and the final budgetary transfers have been subject to an agreed due diligence process. Control of this Voted expenditure will transfer to my Department in the Revised Estimates Volume to be published in advance of Establishment Day. The budgets and staff of the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board already fall under my Department and will transfer in full to the Agency on its establishment. The precise figures for 2014 will be set out in the Revised Estimates Volume which will be published very shortly and which will come before the Committee for its consideration in January. I will be in a position to expand more fully on the Child and Family Agency allocation once the Revised Estimates have been published. The 2014 Budget, which was published on 15th October last, included an additional 6.7 million (12 million in a full year) to support the ongoing programme of reform of child welfare and protection services. This additional investment will support the Child and Family Agency in ongoing reform aimed at improving the quality and capacity of child protection and welfare services, in line with the very significant priority placed upon these improvements by Government. As provided for in Section 45 of the Child and Family Agency Bill I will determine the maximum amount of net expenditure that may be incurred by the Board of the Child and Family Agency for a financial year. Following enactment of the Child and Family Agency Bill, I will, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation, provide the Board with a Performance Framework within six months of the Agencys establishment. This will set out policy guidance, direction and prioritisation parameters to inform the preparation of a three year Corporate Plan by the Agency. I will also provide similar guidance to inform the preparation by the Agency of its annual Business Plan. When established, the Agency will constitute one of the largest public sector agencies in the State with staff of over 4,000 employees. Considerable progress has been made over recent years in recruiting additional social workers in line with the commitment in the Ryan

Implementation Plan to recruit 260 social workers for Children and Family Services, and this will be reflected in the complement of staff transferring to the Child and Family Agency. The number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) social workers employed in HSE Children and Family Services up to end of October 2013 was approximately 1,400, and this cohort of staff will transfer across to the new Agency on establishment. The HSE has advised that a further 112 posts have been approved and are being processed at present. In addition a range of other disciplines will transfer to the Agency, including social care workers, family support staff, other health professionals, early years inspectors, education welfare officers and administrative and support staff. The establishment of the Agency represents one of the largest and most ambitious areas of public sector reform currently underway. There is an intensive focus at this stage on a number of critical priorities which need to be finalised prior to Establishment Day. These include arrangements for the provision of a HSE Financial Accounting Shared Service for the new Agency on disaggregation, including HR/Payroll Shared Services and Financial Shared Services. My Department, Children and Family Services and IMPACT as the main trade union representing staff that are transferring to the new Agency (HSE and NEWB) have been working collaboratively, with the assistance of an independent facilitator, to address industrial relations matters relating to the establishment of the new Agency. Separately, discussions have taken place with a number of other unions representing staff identified for transfer, specifically the INMO (representing pre-school inspectors), PSEU and CPSU (representing Family Support Agency staff). The discussions have addressed a range of issues including workforce planning, HR policies, procedures and agreements, and arrangements for the future management of industrial relations post-establishment. I am pleased to report that the engagement on all sides has been very constructive and I look forward to the same positive spirit being continued into the Agency. Individual letters of notification issued in January 2013 to staff confirming that they will transfer with their existing terms and conditions of employment and without any break in continuity of service. This commitment is reflected in the Child and Family Agency Bill which recently passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas. The legislation also provides for the Agency to enter into an arrangement with a service provider for the provision of child and family services subject to certain conditions. Certain contracts with voluntary bodies are also transferring over. Approximately 700 agencies are funded through Children and Family Services with a budget of approximately 100 million. The top 10 agencies that provide services for children and families that are transferring to the Child and Family Agency from 1st January 2014 are as follows: 1) 2) 3) Barnardos; Daughters of Charity; Extern Ireland;

4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10)

Focus Ireland; Forige; Youth Advocate Programme (YAP); Salesians of Don Bosco; Crosscare; Smyly Trust Homes; Peter McVerry Trust.

Important tasks will be completed following signing of the Child and Family Agency Bill by the President. This includes orders commencing the Act and designating Establishment Day; the formal appointment of the Board and the first CEO; and the setting of net expenditure limits in line with the Revised Estimates. I am satisfied that matters are on track and want to pay tribute to all of the staff of my Department and the three constituent organisations who are involved in this change. The Child and Family Agency is an enabler of change and not an end in itself; nevertheless I believe the advance preparations and resources which will be at the disposal of the Agency will equip it to begin to make a unique and lasting contribution to improving services for children and families.