Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government does value children and childhood. This is the first Government to have a dedicated Department of Children and Youth Affairs, headed by a Cabinet Minister. This is the Government that delivered on a commitment that had been spoken about for 20 years, namely, to enshrine the rights of children in the Constitution. The Government spends a considerable sum of money in the delivery of youth services which are delivered through the vocational education committees and the various youth bodies and services organised throughout the country. From time to time, the demand for services, the numbers using them and the numbers involved vary. Accordingly, the amount spent in an individual service may go up or down. I know the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has an ongoing dialogue with youth service providers. She consults them regularly about what is the best way to deploy and use the resources of the State to ensure these services are working in the interests of the young people for whom they are provided.

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