James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important service for the young people of Longford. It is an issue Deputy James Bannon has brought to my attention repeatedly since I became Minister. I raised the matter with my Department last week.

In 2013, €1.5 million in capital funding was made available to my Department for a Youth Café scheme. Pobal assisted my Department to administer this scheme. In all, 95 applications with proposals were received and some 30 proposals for new youth café facilities around the country were approved for funding. These projects are now working with Pobal to develop their projects to the next stage of development. An application for funding was received in respect of the Attic Youth Café, however the application was deemed ineligible for the scheme.

Representations on behalf of the project have been received in my Department.

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Meetings with the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and officials were held in January and in May this year. Officials of my Department and Pobal met the project representatives on 11 September 2014. Officials are now undertaking a full examination of all aspects of this case, including information and documentation provided at the meeting. The outcome of this examination will be communicated to the project in the coming weeks. Pending the outcome of this examination my Department is not in a position to determine what steps, if any, may be available to the proposers to advance the project.

My Department does not have available to it a new capital fund for the development of youth cafés in 2014. It is acknowledged that youth cafés offer young people a safe, alcohol-free and drug-free space for recreation, non-formal learning and youth activities. I wish to record my support for these cafés because many younger people are not terribly interested in sport, even though we would encourage it and they need a safe outlet and a safe place in which to socialise.

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