Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like colleagues, I want to welcome the witnesses and thank them for their powerful contributions. The breadth of their work is impressive and they are dealing with people who are disadvantaged, including young people who are in care or about to go into care, and some migrants as well, particularly people with educational underachievement. It is so disappointing that in this day and age, when there should be such opportunities in education at second level and in going on to further education and training, we still have so many people leaving formal school settings without any particular skills. It is so disappointing because, as we all know, by and large there are good opportunities in our island and elsewhere. We all know that the best way to engage people is to have them gainfully employed for the long term.

It was mentioned that 837 young people have completed the programme since it started a few years ago. When young people complete the programme, is contact maintained with them to see if they have gone into training or employment? I remember being slightly involved with the wider horizons programme some years ago, which was funded by the International Fund for Ireland. In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan it had great collaboration through the vocational education committees at the time, which are now our education and training boards, through the Youthreach programmes. The Youthreach programme is a second chance for education. We have seen people who did not complete their formal second level education go back and I know many of those individuals who thankfully completed Youthreach programmes and went on to further education. Some of those people have gone on to do primary degrees and get postgraduate qualifications, which shows what can be done if people can be engaged.

The Chair spoke about teaching children who come from homes where education might not have been a priority, which is unfortunate. We cannot emphasise enough the need for people to attain educational qualifications and training. The witnesses might revert to me if they have case studies of some young lady or man whose path in life they have followed subsequent to them using their programmes. I remember seeing encouraging cases from Youthreach programmes. I go to the graduation programmes every year. I always find them uplifting from the point of view of our political work. Some of the guest speakers on the day would be students who had gone through Youthreach. They might have completed their degree programmes and are now teaching or otherwise employed. The role model is important for young people. Graduations from colleges of further education are always uplifting as we see children who we know have come from homes that may have been dysfunctional and who did not get many advantages in life. It does not just impact on the people themselves but also on their families and on the wider communities. It has such a positive impact in a community where there is disadvantage when young people from the local area do well. Do these programmes have any particular links with local employers or statutory agencies? In many instances we do not use the leverage that should be used with companies that could take in young people for training or give them work experience during the time they are doing a particular programme.

Ms Watters has put the mood in the loyalist communities in stark terms. As my colleague Senator Blaney and others have said, it is worrying to see the regression she talks about. Around the time of the election we saw all the emphasis on the protocol, etc. Ms Watters mentioned that they want no truck or policy of engagement with the Irish Government. No community in this country, North or South, has anything to fear from the Government, public service or political system here. It is mutually beneficial for us all and the more progress that can be made in society the more everyone benefits. Over the years successive Governments have made an effort to put investment into communities. I was at the Skainos Square community and resource centre on the day that the former First Minister, Peter Robinson, and the former deputy First Minister, the late Martin McGuinness, performed its official opening. If you look at the funders for that centre, from memory the Department of Foreign Affairs reconciliation fund was one of them. I was in other community and resource centres throughout Belfast and elsewhere where you will see plaques or messages setting out who the funders were, and in many instances it would have been the Department of Foreign Affairs making a contribution.

None of us in this committee can speak for the Government and we do not do so but there is a willingness there to continue to invest in human and physical infrastructure. The investment in the human infrastructure and resource is more important now than ever. Investing in people is so important. We need to get the message out that we want to continue to work. I welcome Ms Watters's comments when she said that policy is out there. It is disappointing that this is the message that is coming down to communities and people working with youth groups. We were often insular in our thinking as a country but we have to be more outgoing. There is generosity out there to engage and assist because the broader picture is that an Ireland at peace and communities in every corner of our country doing well will benefit us all.