I can confirm that there are currently 136 members of the Family Resource Centre Programme. This follows the most recent expansion by ten members, which honours a Programme for Government commitment to work to increase funding and expand the capacity and network of Family Resource Centres. It was made possible by the securing of funding as part of Budget 2026, which has allowed membership to increase this year from 126 members to 136 members. The new members were announced by press release on 3rd February 2026. This is a very welcome development, following the announcement of an additional five Programme members in August 2025.
There is currently no additional funding available to further expand the Family Resource Centre Programme in 2026. I will continue to pursue the expansion of the Family Resource Centre Programme through the budgetary process and in line with the Programme for Government commitment. If successful in securing funds for future expansion of the Family Resource Centre Programme, a new call for applications will be launched to ensure all existing and newly interested locations can apply.
I wish to inform the Deputy that the commissioning of new Family Resource Centres is an operational matter for Tusla, which is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Family Resource Centre Programme. Neither myself nor the Department have any involvement in the assessment process for new members of the Family Resource Centre Programme, or in selecting new Programme members.
The most recent expansion of the Family Resource Centre Programme followed a comprehensive national application and assessment process undertaken in 2025, which was led by Tusla and independently chaired by a representative of the University of Limerick. All applications were reviewed and scored against the clearly defined and published criteria, including population need, level of deprivation, child population data, existing service provision and existing service gaps. Decisions on the successful services were made by the assessment panel. I expect a new process will be undertaken in the event of any future calls for applications.
In relation to Balbriggan, I am aware that Aster Family Resource Centre is an FRC Programme member located in Balbriggan town. If there are other services operating in Balbriggan that wish to be considered in any future open calls from applications, I would recommend that they make contact with Tusla’s Commissioning Office.
