Putting Children First: CDI's Pre-Budget Submission Prioritises Ireland's Most Vulnerable

We have the distinct advantage of having expertise, knowledge, experience, research and data to back up the experience on the ground at a grassroots level. [...] To address this, the government must provide adequate homework and play spaces for children in homeless services, increase Homeless HAP and HAP payments, allocate additional resources for Child and Youth Development Workers, and commit to ending child homelessness by 2030. [...] The government should allocate sufficient resources for Primary Care services and Children's Disability Network Teams, establish a dedicated child Public Health Nursing service, improve communication with parents, and streamline services for children with additional needs. [...] CDI calls for the budget deficit to be addressed, applying a cost-of- living increase, and ensuring a ringfenced budget for the ABC Programme. [...] The Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) supports the pre-budget submissions of our colleagues in the Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA), the Prevention and Early Intervention Network (PEIN), the Wheel, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), and many other organisations who have been working to improve outcomes for children, families, and communities.