Children’s abuse group CARI saw a marked increase in calls about rape and sexual assault last year — while it has been forced to cut services due to lack of funding.

Just under half of all families at risk of poverty receive no State support apart from child benefit payments, according to a report.

A mother’s education trumps marriage or cohabitation when it comes to the wellbeing of children, a study reveals.

Vulnerable immigrants were left without an independent voice when the Ombudsman’s office was not opened to them, campaigners have claimed.

Children At Risk in Ireland (Cari), which treats victims of sexual abuse, has said it fears for the future of some services if it undergoes any further cuts to its funding.

More men than ever before have accessed services at family resource centres around the country, but counselling hours have been reduced due to cutbacks.

Church gate collections are up 11% on last year, the St Vincent de Paul Society in Cork said, but calls are up by 30%.

MOST people think it is best to live together before marriage, research has found

RENT paid by the Government for premises to run 16 family mediation centres cost €690,123 last year, up by more than €70,000 on 2008.

A STATE-FUNDED mediation service in Waterford for couples who have decided to separate or divorce has been closed down with no warning given to scores of people on a nine-month waiting list.

Family resource centres throughout the country have been assuming a greater role in facilitating elderly people, because grandparents are assuming an ever-greater part in rearing their grandchildren, a report published by Family Resource Centre National Forum and Family Support Agency has revealed.

Family Resource Centres say there has been a significant rise in the number of people using their services because of the recession.

THE changing face of the modern Irish family has been revealed.

THE ordinary people of Ireland are, it seems, changing.

The Labour Party tonight called for Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae to resign as chairman of the Oireachtas Social and Family Affairs Committee.

PARENTS are increasingly seeking professional help to deal with family breakdown and problems arising from the recession.

FAMILY Resource Centres around the country have warned that despite a growing demand for their services among vulnerable families, their future is under threat as a result of the McCarthy report.

An Bord Snip's long-anticipated report into cuts in public spending includes recommendations for large-scale job cuts of 17,300 in the public sector, cuts of 5% to all social welfare benefits, an increase in hospital charges and cuts of €746m in the education sector.

More than €7.8m is to be provided to 29 major organisations involved in marriage, child and bereavement counselling services throughout Ireland, it was announced today.

THE most awkward question a child can ask is not always where they come from — sometimes it is who they come from.

A GROUNDBREAKING study is to examine the reasons behind some of the fundamental changes in the structure of Irish families since the 1970s.

AN ADVOCACY project aimed at helping people with disabilities claim their entitlements, access services and have their voices heard was launched yesterday in Waterford.

TWO FAMILY resource centres in Waterford are to receive capital funding to the tune of €550,000.

GRUELLING commutes and a lack of free time for families is leading to a growing number of marriages and relationships collapsing.

THERE has been a six-fold increase in the number of couples availing of family mediation since divorce was legalised in Ireland.

A ceremony will mark the opening of the 100th family resource centre today.

Almost 15,000 requests were made to elicit materials from public bodies under the Freedom of Information Act last year, it was confirmed today.

CHILDCARE is the biggest issue in areas where people feel disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalised, a study reveals.

ONE-in-three children born in Ireland yearly do not have the right to knowledge of, or contact with, their fathers, a lobby group has claimed.

The state body set up to help prevent marriage breakdown has warned that official figures in the area only represent the "tip of the iceberg".

A new website is being launched next month giving families information on services available from the Family Support Agency.

THOUSANDS of children in foster care cannot be legally adopted and are denied a chance of enjoying a “second family” because they have no specific rights of their own, it emerged yesterday.

FUNDING of more than €660,000 approved by two Government departments for a Limerick community scheme may be lost if a third Government department does not come up with its share of grant aid, Labour Party front bench spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan warned last night.

VULNERABLE fathers in Ireland are distrusted, misjudged and excluded from a full parenting role.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs Seamus Brennan has called for support services and family law courts to be more sensitive towards the rights of fathers, it emerged today.

The amount of money spent on social welfare has increased by 80% in the past six years, according to the Department of Social and Family Affairs’ annual report for 2003.

THE Government is continuing to ignore children trapped in poverty or affected by alcohol abuse, a leading children’s charity said yesterday.

To suggest that children in this country suffer the repercussions of dire poverty because society does not care, is something which most reasonable people would dismiss out of hand.

New research has revealed that two thirds of couples with relationship problems feel less stressed about their lives after receiving counselling.

FORMER Fianna Fáil Ministers Michael O’Kennedy and David Andrews have been paid €101,000 and €74,000 respectively to decide upon asylum seekers’ appeals for refugee status.

COUNSELLING saves at least half of troubled marriages a study has shown.

The new Family Support Agency, which formally begins it's work next year, is to have a budget of €17m.

A new study looking at children of separated parents has revealed that many of the young people are worried that they will stand out from, and be different to other children.

SUPPORTING and strengthening the family in the face of mounting pressures, such as divorce, is one of the Government's key objectives, Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Coughlan said yesterday.