Ms Lorraine Gilligan:

I am the executive director of Léargas, and I am joined this morning by my colleague, Ms Emma Grainger, manager of our strategic initiatives team and our contact point for the European Year of Youth. She will assist with me with this introduction and will help with any follow-up questions that members might have.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to join it to discuss the European Year of Youth. Members already know that the decision by the European Parliament and Council to designate 2022 officially as the European Year of Youth aims to celebrate, support and engage young people across the EU, in particular recognition of the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the lives, experiences and opportunities of young people. This year will result in European Year of Youth activities and initiatives that will be organised at national, local and European levels throughout the year for young people and those working with them to help them to discover more about their opportunities and how they can participate in them.

In Ireland, the European Year of Youth is co-ordinated by Léargas in partnership with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. For those who might not be very familiar with Léargas, we have been a national agency for EU programmes for more than 35 years. We place a very strong focus on inclusion and diversity, and we adopt a supportive approach to our work. We deliver European exchange programmes in adult, school and vocational education and training, as well as youth, volunteering and community work. All the participants in our programmes include young people, school pupils, vocational learners, teachers, youth workers and generally those working with young people.

We in Léargas have a privileged position to witness how these exchanges and opportunities to connect people in different communities and countries can bring a European dimension, and that European bubble comes closer into the lives and work of people and organisations throughout Europe. We see the European Year of Youth as a very exciting opportunity to amplify and bolster the voices and work already being undertaken by our beneficiaries and the work they do with young people. We are also very mindful that we need actively to seek to embrace the opportunity to connect, engage and empower those who are not currently involved in EU programmes so that they too can build their own projects and enjoy opportunities such as Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and many other national and local youth opportunities. For them, the European Year of Youth has so much potential and, as I said, we in Léargas are very mindful of the responsibility we hold as national co-ordinator for the year. It is a responsibility we recognise as very important now and, as our previous speakers have said, very important for our future.

We are part of a network of national co-ordinators across Europe, which is comprised of organisations like Léargas that are called "national agencies", youth councils and ministries. In early January, each national co-ordinator had to submit a work plan for the year at national level to the European Commission. We are still awaiting its feedback to see if it wants any additional activities or improvements to that plan. Therefore, some of the things we might talk to members about today are still pending approval, but we will be ready to develop and deliver those activities in earnest as soon as we possibly can.

Some of the activities include the convening of a steering group that was previously mentioned. That is comprised of individuals, organisations and representatives who can help to inform, guide and support the actions of the national co-ordinator through the year. We also aim to establish a micro grants scheme to distribute small grants at grassroots level for locally organised groups of young people to develop youth-led activities and events that can promote the priorities and opportunities for the year. Léargas will host specific and targeted European Year of Youth events across Ireland to attract young people and to help them find out more about how they can participate and discover new opportunities for themselves. We also plan, naturally, to leverage the network of current beneficiaries of Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps programmes and our other networks to engage with the year. They can do that by taking part in events, developing their own events and branding existing events, all with a view to enhance the visibility of the year and its objectives.

For 2022, the European Commission has invested in the European Year of Youth. The budget available to Ireland for the co-ordination role of the European Year of Youth is €143,000. It is worth noting that in 2022 we estimate a bursary of approximately €23 million will be available to Irish organisations under the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes. That is something to look forward to.

I will hand over to my colleague Ms Emma Grainger, who will talk the committee through the rest of our plans.