Mayo Oireachtas members hear impact of Family Resource Centres

Oireachtas members from Mayo heard of the impact Family Resource Centres (FRCs) are having in their local communities, and the need for a renewed Government commitment to increase funding to enable them to deliver their needed services. 

The call was made as part of an AV Room briefing at Leinster House this week, held by the Family Resources Centre National Forum (FRCNF).

For Budget 2025, the FRCNF has identified the required level of funding per FRC as €240,000, for them to be able to adequately provide the support and services required of them and to realise the full potential impact of the National FRC Programme.

_{Photographed at the Family Resource Centre National Forum’s AV Room budget briefing in Leinster House were Rose Conway-Walsh TD and Louise Moran, Boyle FRC, Roscommon}

Representatives from Mayo in attendance at the event included Dara Calleary TD and Rose Conway-Walsh TD.

Commenting on their pre-Budget submission Fergal Landy, CEO of the FRCNF said the call renewal comes ahead of Budget 2025 to ‘maximise the potential of the FRC National Programme’ and ‘increase its capacity to deliver for children, families, individuals, and communities throughout Ireland’. 

“When FRCs are adequately funded, they are extremely effective at leveraging up to three times more funding from other government and philanthropic sources and can then involve the community in the planning of integrated supports to meet the diverse range of needs,” he explained.

Mr Landy continued: “In every corner of the country, from Mayo to Donegal, the FRC National Programme plays a vital role in providing support to communities. However, FRCs have long experienced a reduced level of core funding, in comparison to similar organisations, and we are now urging the Government to put communities at the heart of Budget 2025 and invest where it is needed most.”

Further information about the FRCNF is available on the Family Resource website.