Children at Risk Ireland, CARI, provides long-term therapeutic supports for children aged three to 18 who have been affected by child sexual abuse, and their families. It is notable that One-in-Four, which supports adult victims of child abuse, receives 75% funding from the State, such as the HSE, Tusla and the Department of Justice. At the present time, Tusla is only offering one third of the cost for 2024.

In the first half of 2023, there were 4,000 cases of suspected child physical abuse referred to An Garda Síochána and Tusla. In 2022, there were over 1,800 reports of child sex abuse. For 34 years, CARI has supplied supports for children from 3 to 18 years of age, and have only now been offered a third of the funding, while other agencies are being offered up to 75% funding. Why are children being treated any less in these cases?

I want to acknowledge the important work that CARI does. The Deputy has raised specifically the issue around funding. In August of this year, the board of CARI communicated to Tusla its financial deficit on service delivery and that without additional support of €243,000 required until the end of the year, it was its intention to cease operating and to close the CARI service. On 6 September, the Tusla commissioning team met with CARI senior management with regard to funding. CARI outlined some of the causes for financial difficulty, and its CEO accepted that its current financial operating model is not sustainable. A decision was made by the Tusla CEO to allocate an additional €200,000 in once-off funding to alleviate current financial difficulties for 2023, based on a proviso that CARI stays within its allocated budget for 2024. We will come back to the Deputy further on the specific latest issue that he has raised.