Around 4,000 staff have transferred to the new Child and Family Agency, which was officially launched last week. The new state body, which has a budget of €600 million and a national network of over 100 community-based family resource centres, marks a turning point in child protection, according to IMPACT official Christina Carney.

Christina said the agency has also meant fundamental changes for the staff involved. “The new agency has assumed responsibility for vital interactions between the state and children and families including child protection, family support and regulation of pre-schools,” she said.

IMPACT has established a framework agreement with the children’s department to facilitate the transfer of staff to the new agency. It covers policies on staff transfers, professional registration, workforce planning, recruitment, regularisation, industrial relations, support services and continuous professional development.

The union has strongly welcomed the focus on children, which underpins the reform measures. “This has been a huge collaborative effort and our members are focused on the best possible outcomes for children. That has been the driver of our efforts in establishing a framework agreement,” said Christina. She acknowledged the crucial role of independent chairperson Joan Carmichael in establishing the framework agreement.

Speaking at the launch of the new agency, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said the new agency would create a seamless integration of policy and service delivery. “For too long our flawed approach treated child and family services like an adjunct of another agency, as an afterthought. But not anymore,” she said.

Chief executive Gordon Jeyes called the agency an exciting fresh start. “The Child and Family Agency will be a ferocious corporate parent, demanding for the children of Ireland the very best that the state can give. This will be an agency that has the agility and the freedom and flexibility to engage with individual families on a practical level and the capacity to react to changing circumstances,” he said.