Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Costello for raising this matter which, I appreciate, is of great interest to him and many other Members. Like them, I have been greatly impressed by the range of services provided by Foróige in communities across the State. Soon after my appointment as Minister I had the honour of addressing the Foróige annual leaders conference in Kilkenny and saw at first hand the number of volunteers who attended. I have since visited several Foróige projects throughout the country, including in my constituency. On all occasions I have been very impressed with the work of Foróige.

We are all well aware of the threats posed to young people by alcohol, drugs and unhealthy lifestyles. In the context, we must come to grips with the challenges posed by consumerism, the media and new technologies. The opportunities provided by youth work services and projects - such as those offered by Foróige - support young people in dealing with the issues to which I refer and in becoming: confident individuals, effective contributors, successful learners and responsible citizens. That is why I am strongly support youth work.

I must place this matter in context. My Department will provide €60 million in funding to the youth sector during the current year. Foróige is currently in receipt of just over €6 million of this, which represents 10% of the Department's total youth work budget. In addition, Foróige is in receipt of significant funding from other Departments and State bodies. For example, it received more than €3 million in 2010 from the Irish Youth Justice Service in respect of 29 Garda youth diversion projects. Foróige works very effectively with local gardaí and with those involved in community projects. I have received reports from the officers and community workers involved which indicate that these projects are operating well. Foróige also received significant levels of further funding from other State bodies including the HSE, the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and local authorities. In 2009, Foróige received approximately €16.2 million in funding from the State.

The Big Brother Big Sister programme was developed in the United States as a mentoring programme that matches an adult volunteer to a young person, typically ten to 18 years old. It consists of two types of programmes, namely, a community-based programme and a school-based programme. The Deputy is correct in stating that the programme has been evaluated. This is happening with increasing frequency throughout the sector and programmes are being evaluated as they develop. The Big Brother Big Sister programme involves a young person and an adult volunteer meeting, under supervision, once a week for a minimum of one year. The school-based programme aims to ease the transition of primary school students to secondary school by facilitating friendships between first year secondary school students and older students in their schools.

The Big Brother Big Sister programme is aimed at young participants who may be at risk of cultural or economic disadvantage. They may also have poor social skills. My Department and I recognise that many such innovative programmes have an important role in improving outcomes for children and young people. I commend Foróige on its initiative in introducing the programme to Ireland.

Foróige secured funding for this project from two philanthropic organisations, namely, Atlantic Philanthropy and the One Foundation. This funding was for a period of five years up to the end of 2011. Contrary to what the Deputy stated - I will check the position in this regard - I understand this funding is not being continued into 2012. Once-off funding was made available from the dormant accounts fund to assist with the evaluation of the programme, with some localised funding coming from the HSE. To date the Big Brother Big Sister programme has not been in receipt of any dedicated funding from of my Department's annual youth work budget. No commitment to future funding was given by my Department when the programme was established or since.

In light of the budgetary situation, the youth affairs funding schemes operated by my Department have not been in a position to accept new applications for funding since 2008. The focus has been on making existing interventions and services offered by those organisations in receipt of funds more effective.

My Department is currently examining options to reform funding allocation models to give youth organisations more flexibility in managing their allocation and to ensure both funding and on-the-ground youth provision are better focussed and responsive to the needs of young people in local communities. We are actively working in this regard. Having regard to the current fiscal environment, the reductions in public expenditure that must be achieved by Departments and State agencies, and in light of further budgetary constraints in 2012, it may not at this stage be realistic to envisage additional resources being available in 2012. However, I am very happy to continue to work with Foróige to seek to prioritise the most effective utilisation of existing resources, in particular from within the substantial envelope of existing State funding being provided to it, and to assist in ensuring the essential learning from the Big Brother Big Sister project is maintained and developed.

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