Dr. Fergal Lynch:

We live within a specified budget. The Government obviously makes decisions about what to allocate and where to allocate it. When the decision is made as to how much money is going to be allocated to each particular area, including youth, then the proposals are drawn up within that. Otherwise there is a danger that there would be almost infinite applications and demands for services. This will be a step forward, however, because I have to acknowledge that the existing system, under which it is more or less a case of getting what one got last year plus or minus a few percent, is hardly scientific. It has the distinct disadvantage that if one was in a part of the country that does not happen to have a well developed youth service, one does not get any money.