John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Having listened to earlier contributors, I note that while many of us in the House are not that young we have much experience in dealing with young people directly through our families and having made our way into politics through our involvement with youth organisations. In my case, I would never have been a Member of this House had I not been introduced to politics through youth clubs. Even though that era has long passed for me, we still have hands-on experience of youth matters as public representatives. That is relevant to many of the contributions in this debate. Things have changed enormously since I was a teenager, and for the better. Before you took the Chair, sir, it was occupied by the Ceann Comhairle, a former Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. He had a particular responsibility for sports, an area in which we have witnessed major changes. That should be recognised and I am sure the previous speaker would acknowledge that is the case. When I was growing up and playing football there were no changing facilities. We changed on the side of the road, in the back of a car or in the ditch. Deputy Durkan is smiling so I am sure he agrees that was so. Nowadays, however, such conditions are unacceptable. Society has changed because resources have been invested in the sporting sector. Over the last decade we have seen significant changes in that regard.

It has been acknowledged for some time that we need to change the direction of available resources. We have put resources into a wide range of sporting activities, which is good up to a point. Those who are participating in sports are doing well. Studies indicate that young girls or boys involved in soccer, Gaelic games or other sporting activities are less likely to become involved in anti-social behaviour. There is a cohort of young people, however, who do not engage in sporting activities for one reason or another. The primary reason is not that they are unfit or unhealthy, but that they are not competitive enough. By its nature sporting activity is competitive so in future we should also invest in youth activities that are not necessarily based on sporting competitiveness. In that context, I wish specifically to mention youth cafés. A couple of months ago I was invited to the opening of the Ronanstown youth café, which is both interesting and well run. I spoke to the teenagers who were there and said I would bring back my son for a longer discussion. Those who attended the café were really enjoying it. Subsequently I met with those involved in establishing the youth café who were from the VEC and other organisations. They told me about the difficulties involved. If a soccer or GAA club wants to build a dressing room for local children, it must go through a recognised structure or procedure. However, if one wants to establish a youth café in Maynooth——

See this speech in context