Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every Minister has to make cuts in their Department and every Minister will have argued, exactly as the Deputy has, on the value of what they are doing in their Department. I will certainly argue that we should have increased resources going into early intervention. As I have explained before about protecting the funding for early intervention, I had to seek an extra €10 million to maintain the universal free preschool scheme. For every euro invested in that area, there is a saving of between €7 and €8 for the State. The majority of funding in my Department is going into early intervention.

I take the Deputy's point about the value of youth work. The study done by the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, was very useful. The majority of the work being done by the youth services has been protected in very difficult times. I realise the efforts the youth workers are making to maintain the service and to continue to work with young people. I accept these are difficult times for them, and I will do everything to protect the funding. Next year, I will be looking to continue to support youth work as much as possible in the tough economic situation we face where we are borrowing €1 billion a month. That is the reality.

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