Report on agency for children ‘a major step’

The new Child and Family Agency to be set up next year will incorporate a range of services, including public health nurses and truancy officers, although its budget has yet to be decided.

Launching the blueprint published by the task force on the Child and Family Support Agency yesterday, Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said it represented a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to overhaul the child welfare system.

The task force was chaired by Maureen Lynott and also included representatives from NGOs, government departments, and Gordon Jeyes, the national director of the HSE’s Children and Family Services.