Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat agus go raibh maith ag an Aire as bheith anseo chun éisteacht a thabhairt don méad atá le rá agam. It is very important that the Minister is here to listen and hopefully I can impress upon her to do whatever is necessary to avoid cuts to some of the projects listed. They are not all within my constituency but I will concentrate on the projects that I know best.

These projects in the main are in working class or disadvantaged areas, whichever title the Minister wants to use, but they tick all the boxes that always define areas of major need, where the drug problem has been at its height. In the past there was low educational attainment in these areas. Much has been done about that in recent years and the cycle has been broken but if we continue with the cuts in youth services the cycle might be created again. Many are areas of very violent crime but they are also areas of severe poverty. They are impoverished in many ways. Whereas in richer or more affluent areas in Dublin there might be a call on the community to fund or help part-fund some of the projects that is not an option in most of these areas. The groups with which I have worked are imaginative in their fund-raising. They have tried everything, they have examined every grant available not only in Ireland but around the world. They have appealed to philanthropists. They have considered alternate sources of funds. They have pared all of their overheads right down to the bone because this is not the first cut. It comes after a series of cuts.

In many cases they have pared back their services, wages, and administration costs. It is not as if they are not aware of the need to be prudent in this day and age. They have done that in buckets yet they were told before Christmas to expect a cut of maybe 3%, 4% or even 5%. The cuts are huge for some of the projects listed by the City of Dublin Youth Services Board because they have already pared down. I will not deal with two groups, Focus Ireland and Candle which are substantial, and there are major reasons for that. I have some problems with them because alternative funding is already in place to capture that. Maybe the Minister is considering those organisations. Groups such as The Base in Ballyfermot have been pared down. The size of the funding looks attractive but it has been cut by 14% which would not sound huge if we were in an era of plenty but a cut of €60,000 from the budget of an organisation dealing with the most disadvantaged children in Dublin 10 is huge. That means job losses, curtailment of services, closure on certain days. The same could be said of the Ballyfermot youth services. Deputy Conaghan, who is here, would know some of the groups I am listing and the effects of such a cut on the Ballyfermot Youth Services or The Base. It is suggested that €73,000 will come out of its budget which is substantial.

I know that the final decision does not necessarily lie with the Minister but she can sign off or refuse to sign off on what the City of Dublin Youth Services Board presents to her. I urge her not to sign off on cuts of that scale and to look again to ensure that services do not end up reducing their service or their hours, especially at this time for young people.

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