Mr. Andy Leeson:

I thank the Chairman and the members for giving us the opportunity to present information about Foróige and its involvement in coordinating the delivery of the strengthening families programme. Foróige provides a broad range of services and programmes to young people, families and communities across Ireland. Foróige engages with young people aged from ten to18 to enable them to achieve their full potential regardless of their backgrounds or the challenges that they face. We achieve this through the provision of universal and targeted youth services and education programmes that are proven to deliver positive outcomes for young people. Foróige works with more than 50,000 young people, helping them to build the skills, resilience and belief in their own individual ability to reach their full potential. Foróige’s work is embedded in communities across Ireland and is a unique partnership between young people, parents, volunteers, and the community.

Involvement in youth work benefits all young people. It is a strong preventative factor in delaying young people’s experimentation with substances and also helps develop their skills to reduce the harms associated with alcohol and substance misuse. Foróige operates a number of drug prevention and education projects around the country which work with young people, parents and families in delivering a range of evidence-based educational and awareness programmes along with providing support and training to schools and others in the community. The aim of all of these programmes is to reduce or delay drug and alcohol use among young people. This is achieved through the delivery of primary and secondary drug prevention programmes for young people as well as training and support for parents, schools and community-based organisations.

My colleague, Mr. Pádraig O'Donovan, will now tell the committee more about the strengthening families programme.