Dr. Patrick J. Burke:

It really is. We need people like the committee members to acknowledge that youth work in itself is a social good. It does not have to do something; that is what they call the instrumentalisation of youth work. It does not need to be an instrument. It is good for a young person just to be part of a group on a Friday night and enjoy that. The State has a responsibility to provide that as a minimum. Beyond that, of course, youth work can be used to achieve social goods in the areas of justice, dropping out of school and so on. However, these things are very clear. In itself, youth work needs to be acknowledged independently as a social good and have the same parity of esteem with the formal sector. Once we have that, we can build on these other areas and get the clarity the Deputy is quite rightly asking for.