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

I welcome the response and the aspiration expressed. There can be no doubt that if we do not provide the resources and supports for teenagers and young people then all the talk about youth employment guarantees will mean little because huge numbers of people will just drop out of the system and get into trouble and difficulty. If the youth guarantee is to mean anything then it must apply in this area and be part of a continuum that goes from the teenage years right through to getting people into employment.

What can we hope for and expect in terms of what that might mean for forthcoming budget cuts or cuts that have been imposed? Those involved in providing youth services say they cannot take any more. Serious damage has been done. Youth worker jobs have been lost and services and projects have been cut. The cuts must be reversed because every cut does damage and means more young people dropping out of the system and getting into trouble. What assurance can the Minister provide that there will be no further attacks and that there will be a reversal of some of the cuts that have been imposed?

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