Minister says Children’s Referendum will re-affirm and underpin the
continuing development of early-intervention and family support
services
France Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and
Youth Affairs joined President Michael D. Higgins to celebrate 10 years of the
Family Support Agency at an event in Croke Park in Dublin. The Minister
addressed the event on the importance of the upcoming Children’s Referendum to
the future development of child protection and family support in Ireland and
paid special tribute to the ongoing work carried out in Clondalkin by
counselling services, including Accord and The Beacon of Light, and by the
Quarryvale Family Support Agency.
The Minister stated: “Protecting children and
supporting families are simply two sides of the same coin. If you want to
improve the protection and well-being of children, you start with the
family.
The Minister commended the work of the Family
Support Agency over the past 10 years including supporting the local
organisations providing counselling services in Clondalkin and around the
country and supporting the nationwide network of 106 Family Resource Centres
including the Quarry Family Resource Centre.
She referred to the Family Resource Centre network
as “unique model built on the involvement of local people in tackling local
problems and challenges. In my own area in Clondalkin I see the huge impact that
the counselling services from Newlands to Nielstown have in helping to support
families through difficult times. The Quarryvale Family Resource Centre provides
huge help and assistance to families and I will continue to support these
organisations where I can.”
Commenting on the upcoming Children’s Referendum,
the Minister said: “the proposed wording recognises that parents are the most
important carers in their children’s lives and does not propose any change to
Article 41 and the current constitutional recognition of the Family as the
natural and fundamental unit of Society.
“However we know that for a small number of
children, what happens in their families can be a serious threat to the child's
safety and welfare. This Referendum will seek to enhance the protection
available to these children.
The Minister outlined that by providing
constitutional provision for ‘proportionate responses’, this Referendum will
re-affirm and underpin the continuing development of early-intervention and
family support services in Ireland, which she said: “play a vital role in
responding to child welfare concerns, with the objective of protecting children
in the home and preventing children being taken into care at a later
stage.
The Minister said that Family Resource Centres will
continue to play an important role in the new Child and Family Support Agency
and the development of integrated, community-based models for early intervention
and family support, as envisaged in the Children’s Referendum.