Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am more trying to understand the intent rather than even scrutinising the Bill. I apologise; I know this is pre-legislative scrutiny.

I am also thinking there is potential for somebody who has privilege and power in the moment. Sometimes people often feel a bit precious about that or a bit insulted when one points out that they are extremely privileged and asks what are they doing with that privilege or how they are using that privilege to help dismantle power because, in dismantling power, they have to address their own power and not everyone fully wants to look at the power they have. Potentially, with the idea of something into the future, 50 years away, one would hope they would feel less like they were being blamed for something that is happening currently in society and it would allow them to open their minds to a future that does not necessarily give them a task or an immediate thing to do in the present. Obviously, power and privilege want to protect the generations of power and privilege that come after it but it is interesting to think about. The commission could be really powerful in that regard. While I know it is not only a youth piece, that ties into a potential for a kind of youth interaction with that piece or whatever role that is.

In terms of youth work, we created The Future of Youth Work document in this House that prioritises the youth sector and recognises the role it plays. There is something of an outdated understanding of what youth work is. It is a profession. It is an extremely expert and highly skilled profession in terms of the types, especially in the communities that I work with most, such as with young men or men in prison, addiction or homelessness. There is all of that stuff relating to insecurity and a lack of safety. Youth work is not paid or recognised in the other professions that dip in and out of that, whether that be social work or primary healthcare. They play a less consistent everyday role than the youth worker does. The youth worker really acts as that buffer between a complete lack of safety for a young person and that sense of safety and addressing environment factors, families and so on.

When it comes to the youth delegates piece and the young people's committees, etc., how do we make sure of this? We can tick boxes on what I call "diversity", but that does not really cut it for me as diversity. One can have something that, on the surface, looks like diversity because of particular demographics but obviously we want to have regard, when there is representation at EU level or wherever the opportunities are, to how far can one reach.

Who is least likely to be able to access a youth service within a community? Do the witnesses have any ideas on how we empower very targeted, innovative and creative outreach programmes to be able to not necessarily have to pull people into the idea that they need to be part of a youth service to do this, but that ad hocyouths can be found in other ways that they can still engage but they may not necessarily be regular users of a youth service? I am thinking of young people in Oberstown or for whom their daily engagement in terms of their well-being may be with a boxing club. They may never cross the threshold of a youth project but may still have a lot of complex needs. How can the witnesses be really ambitious and innovative in making sure those UN youth delegate spaces can be as open as possible while also still being supportive? Have the witnesses had any thoughts in that regard?