Grants totalling £1.27 million for groups providing marriage counselling and child counselling services have been announced. Almost 150 voluntary organisations will benefit from the grants, including many regional branches of ACCORD, the Catholic marriage counselling service. The ACCORD head office in Dublin receives £220,000, Marriage and Relationship Counselling Services £100,000, and the ISPCC £5,000.
The total allocation of funding for marriage counselling and child counselling services is £1.5 million, an increase of 65 per cent on 1997 figures. The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, stressed the importance of preventing family breakdown through the development of services such as counselling.