Mr. Brendan Cummins:

Did the Senator not? Anyway, they generally do not fit into the traditional group work methodology and they require a different response. We have been hearing about this constantly because it is recurring. Youth work has changed, as have the needs of young people, regardless of their age. If an 18-year-old is coming to a youth worker, that youth worker has done a great job of working with him or her and building that relationship. The worker is the one person in that young individual's life who he or she trusts. There might not be someone else.

When we have a little crisis, we might ring our mammies. These people might not have that luxury. A youth worker may wake up on a Monday morning to 12 text messages from a young person and may be the only one in their life that they see as responsible. There is a huge weight on a youth worker to be that person. It is not just one; 200 such kids might be relying on that youth worker. When they reach the age of 18, if they are still engaging with a youth worker, that worker should be privileged and humbled that they still want to talk to them. Their needs will be completely different from those of ordinary 18-year-old civilians, if we can call them that. They will need the flexibility the worker has shown them throughout their lives at different times. The worker cannot respond as part of a group-work response. The people in question require youth workers to be flexible and available when they need them. An 18-year-old does not always have a crisis at 3 p.m. when the arts programme is happening and the youth worker can respond. It happens at all sorts of hours, including out of hours and at weekends. We need this flexible case-management approach to address those needs and to hold on to those young people.

We need to look at the complex needs of 18- to 24-year-olds. When they reach the age of 25, we are still not finished with them. We end up with the UBU scheme again that we are not supposed to be engaging with when they are 25, 26 or 27. We do not just abandon people. Youth workers are the tool. We cannot just go into B&Q and pick up another one. We cannot just go and get another Sinéad Harris and sit her there. The youth worker is the only support that young person has for much of their life.

Regarding 18- to 25-year-olds, they are probably coming in because they want to get off the weed. They are probably coming in because they have taken 12 trays of zimmos and they cannot function. In many cases their mothers may have kicked them out and they are experiencing homelessness. They might have forgotten to sign on for the fourth time and have smashed the window in the post office because the woman behind the counter would not give them the money. These are the types of things that are happening in the lives of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds.

We will get in the car and go to the social welfare office straight away within the hour. That is what they need. For that to happen youth workers need to be available and not tied to the indicative timetables the UBU scheme asks for. Where are our youth workers at 3 p.m. or 6 p.m.? We need to be able to have one or two youth workers just as case managers who do not deal with groups so that they can be responsive all the time. A young person will understand if they cannot be because the youth worker is with Johnny instead of Paddy. They can be told that Brendan will be back in a while and he will sort them out then.

These are the difficulties that youth work has fallen into. All agencies and State agencies have let young people down time and time again. Young people end up with compound complex issues. They have been consistently let down by the system. Youth workers that are the ones who picked her up again and again. It has nearly just naturally fallen into the youth workers lap to be that one-size-fits-all - every State agency in one person. I have been on a ramble there.