Mr. James Doorley:

I thank the Chairman, Deputies and Senators for the opportunity to speak today. The National Youth Council of Ireland is the representative body for 45 national voluntary youth organisations working with young people. I have no doubt all the members are very familiar with the work of our members. The title of our submission is "Beyond Austerity", because we believe that after five years and numerous budgets in which there have been cuts and adjustments, we need to give young people some hope and a plan for the future and something beyond the troika leaving Ireland and regaining our sovereignty.

One of the key issues for us is that funding for youth work organisations working in every community in Ireland has been cut by approximately 30% since 2008. It is a sector that works with many young people. In 2012, we commissioned Indecon to undertake an assessment and it found that our members engaged with more than 380,000 young people. There are 40,000 volunteers and approximately 1,300 paid staff. It is a service and a support for young people which is very much led by organisations and volunteers and which is obviously complemented by staff. However, it has been very badly hit over the past number of years.

Even though youth work services comprises only 14% of the budget of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, last year it comprised 33% of the overall budget. Organisations have had to make savings and, unfortunately, have had to reduce services to young people, reduce hours and cut back pay. Up to now we have been struggling on, but another €3 million cut has been pinpointed for 2014. Essentially, our pre-budget submission is stating that this sector has already taken a 30% cut and a fairly heavy share of the burden. We would like the sector to be spared in 2014.

Another issue on which we are very much working is youth unemployment. We welcome the Government's work in the area of the youth guarantee, which our organisation first proposed in March 2011. The key thing is a high-quality education, training and work experience opportunity. It is not enough to get young people off the live register; it is important to get them onto a sustainable path and into sustainable work. We know the Government has set up an interdepartmental working group, which is very positive. A plan is going to the European Commission. Ireland must put money up front but it could also access significant funding from the European Union's youth employment initiative.

We are particularly concerned about the young people who have been on the live register the longest. Approximately 28,000 have been on the live register for a year or more. We are concerned that if the fund is focused only on those closest to the labour market, those young people will be left behind. In our pre-budget submission, we propose that a strand of the youth guarantee be used to assist young people who are most disadvantaged. Our member organisations, which have a track record and credibility, could contribute significantly. Some are doing this in a small way with limited resources. We would certainly like to see an overall budget of €20 million in the youth guarantee budget ring-fenced for that.

Ms Ward mentioned the whole area of child poverty. We are also members of the End Child Poverty Coalition and I will not go over the points she made. I refer to alcohol-related harm. Given the day that is in it, Arthur's Day, we have a proposal in our pre-budget submission about revenue-raising. Many people come in here and say they want the Government to spend more. We were members of the national steering group on substance misuse which proposed a social responsibility levy. We have added a bit more detail to it and are saying there should be a 1% levy on the turnover of drinks manufacturers - the large companies producing the alcohol. Based on the drinks industry's own data, we estimate it could potentially bring in approximately €25 million. We believe that money could be used to support initiatives to work with young people to tackle alcohol-related harm and to replace drinks sponsorship of sport and fund activities.

I refer to the issue of emigration. We produced a report in May entitled "Time to Go?", which looked at the issue of emigration. Obviously, we want young people to stay in Ireland and we need to create opportunities for them here, but we must face the reality that young people are leaving. Our research, which we conducted with young people in Canada and in the UK, indicated that many of them were going with either a lack of information or insufficient information and support. Some additional supports are needed. A very modest sum, an extra €1 million, should be provided to groups to give young people who have already decided to emigrate more assistance and perhaps to engage more with the large number of young people who have left so that we can encourage them to come back when, hopefully, the jobs and opportunities are available in Ireland. I will be happy to answer questions.