A funding agreement, which will assist in ensuring that Childline stays open 24 hours a day, has been confirmed by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and ISPCC/Childline.
Recently thse ISPCC, which operates Childline, had warned that funding difficulties in the organisation could force the closure of overnight services. The agreement respects the desire of ISPCC/Childline to remain independent, while at the same time ISPCC has
agreed to work with the department in supporting developments in the area of child protection.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr James Reilly who completed the agreement with Mr Dan Flinter, chairman of the ISPCC, congratulated both sides on the successful discussions that have led to today’s announcement.
The agreement will see funding provided over a two year period and is aimed at supporting the ISPCC to return to financial sustainability in respect of the Childline service.
Dr Reilly has also strongly welcomed the ISPCC agreement involving his department and the Child and Family Agency, Tusla to cooperate in the area of child protection. This will include exploring the enhanced use of technologies to assist with the statutory roll out of Children First.
The ISPCC has also agreed to provide information on an on-going basis to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Health regarding “hidden harm” issues as reported by children and young people to Childline. The information will help those departments in identifying the needs of children and young people within their families and the level of that need.
The Childline contact number is: 1800 66 66 66.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.