I would like to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of increased funding for family resource centres around the country, but in particular those operating within my county of Wexford. The newest family resource centre is within Templeshannon Community and Childcare Centre, Enniscorthy, and is a most welcome addition to the east side of the town. Family resource centres are at the heart of our communities, from providing counselling and therapeutic supports to community inclusion and well-being, to essential front-line prevention and early intervention. However, they are under severe financial pressure. There is a steady growth in demand for their services, including a 51% increase in respect of mental health needs alone. I ask the Taoiseach to consider increasing the core funding of €180,000 per family resource unit to a minimum of €255,000 in the October budget. This would be a targeted but urgent investment in strengthening communities, particularly in rural and disadvantaged areas.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Minister, Norma Foley, was, to be fair to her, effective in the Estimates process in getting additional funding to establish ten new family resource centres across the country, a significant milestone in terms of what had been happening prior to that. I will talk to the Minister about core funding requirements. Again, we are anxious to give additional capacity to family resource centres. We value the role that they are playing and the challenges they are under.