Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

When we listened on the Anglo tapes to bankers laughing as their grubby and greedy activities propelled an entire country towards bankruptcy, it is worth reminding ourselves of the other side of that coin, the human impact. Nowhere provides a more stark indication of the appalling and unacceptable impact of that than cuts to youth services, which as the Minister acknowledged, have suffered an enormous cut of 19% since the recession hit. What will the Minister do to reverse this unacceptable situation? There is no justification for young people, of all people, in particular vulnerable young people in disadvantaged areas, to pay the price for what those laughing, contemptuous bankers did.

During the EU Presidency the Government spoke about the youth guarantee and a report is being launched on how it will be applied in this country. Will the youth guarantee mean a reversal of the cuts? Could the Minister provide assurances that there will be no further cuts in the coming budget? The head of Dublin city youth services said that entire projects will disappear if there are any more cuts in the forthcoming budget. What assurances can the Minister provide that there will be no more of these utterly unacceptable cuts and that the youth guarantee will ensure a reversal of the extremely damaging cuts?

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