Ms Celene Dunne:

I am director of City of Dublin Youth Services. In accordance with the Education and Training Boards Act 2013, the role of City of Dublin Education and Training Board, ETB, is to support the provision, co-ordination, administration and assessment of youth work in its functional area. As part of the youth work function, City of Dublin Youth Services is the conduit for grant aid supporting locally managed projects, groups and clubs to deliver youth work in response to the needs of young people. This funding is provided by the Department and I acknowledge the Department’s commitment to supporting young people who are disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable.

I thank the committee for this opportunity and hope our participation today positively adds to the collective discourse around policy direction as it relates to the development of the youth work sector. We are happy to add to previous discussions on the topic and acknowledge the committee's role in this stakeholder engagement process, which has huge potential in terms of amplifying the value of youth work as a vehicle for social change.

In the city of Dublin, with a grant aid investment of €16,233,000 under a targeted scheme, 47 local youth work providers deliver services, programmes and support to 69,000 young people annually. In addition, under a variety of small grant schemes, €683,000 is provided to support 105 volunteer-led clubs engaging almost 7,500 young people delivered by 1,694 adult volunteers.

There are a variety of historic reasons youth work has lacked progression at a policy level, including a lack of understanding of what youth work is, how it works and, consequently, why it should receive investment. I have been in post less than four months and have spent much of that time engaging with stakeholders on the ground. The issues they have raised with me are funding, staffing and premises.

According to the providers, year-on-year management boards await an allocation to continue their services, leading to uncertainty for not only the management, staff and volunteers but also for the young people, their families and their communities. This leads to an instability in the sector which could be addressed by a policy decision to place youth work funding on a statutory basis. A simplified formula that facilitates sanctioned posts, adequate programme costs and appropriate overheads would bring much-needed stability.

It has been clearly articulated to me that without mainstream stable investment, the sector struggles to convince policymakers of its value. This leads to a breakdown in trust and relationships and to a situation whereby so much time and effort is expended seeking resources that little or no time can be given to the articulation of the long- to medium-term contribution of youth work to young people and society.

The retention and recruitment of qualified staff is difficult because offering terms and conditions commensurate with the professionals delivering services is not possible without mainstream funding. In the city of Dublin, it is estimated that 9% of youth work posts are vacant, resulting in cover issues which can ultimately lead to a reduction in services.

Regarding premises, for volunteer-led clubs in Dublin the situation is that there are adults willing to volunteer and training and grants available to support them. However, finding an appropriate space is proving challenging. This results in a frustrating situation whereby young people miss out on programmes and activities and volunteer hours are lost to the community.

It has been almost 18 years since the last round of facilities investment. Youth and community facilities built during this period benefited from a sound policy which attached packages of funding to the facility to support the overheads and running costs of a premises and to provide additional youth work staff. This ensured access for the target group of young people was guaranteed and value for money was achieved. Key to the success of this policy was a partnership approach which combined the expertise of the Department, the local authority, community sector and the ETB. As a roadmap, this previous multi-stakeholder approach would be most useful in designing a much-needed new round of investment, addressing the deficit in facilities and upgrading existing dedicated youth spaces.

From my engagements with boards of management, youth workers and volunteers on the ground, it is clear a youth work policy approach which includes all stakeholders and learning from previous iterations could lead to much-needed sustainable developments in the youth work sector in Dublin.