Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives for their presentations. I would point out to Mr. James Doorley that I started off in politics as a direct result of being on a national executive of a youth organisation. I remember being in Leinster House lobbying to try to retain funding for youth organisations many years ago when youth organisations were only beginning to get some degree of recognition. We have come a long way since then. Now more than ever, and Mr. Doorley emphasised the point, we need to do much more. As has been said, the birth rate has increased from 60,000 a year to 75,000 and while it has dropped back in the past 12 months, we face major challenges in the years ahead. Does Mr. Doorley consider there could be more co-ordination of the funding made available to youth organisations to ensure better use is made of it? What can be done in that area?

One of the difficulties I have encountered in respect of EU funding relates to the delays on the part of the Departments in trying to access such funding. The first matter they tend to consider is the amount of money they will be obliged to provide before they apply for that funding. This issue was brought home to me in 2009 when Dell closed its operations in Limerick and the relevant Departments were not even aware of the existence of the European globalisation fund. A problem arose because at that time, the rules relating to the fund stipulated that 50% of the moneys would be provided by the EU and the other 50% by the Irish Government. We were advised that the Government would not be in a position to put its share of the money forward, so we convinced the European Union to increase its portion to 66%. As a result, €21 million was made available to the Limerick area. Is Mr. Doorley satisfied that Departments are doing enough to ensure we obtain the maximum benefit from the EU funding that is on offer in order that the maximum number of people here will benefit?