Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State and the Acting Chairman both know from visiting Rathangan, it is a very vibrant and close-knit community. It is a small town of just over 2,000 people with a very strong community spirit. Over the years, we have had more than our fair share of tough times and tribulations. It has had a high level of unemployment and it continues to have a high level of disadvantage, as evidenced by the fact that all three schools in the town have DEIS status. The two primary schools in Rathangan are the only two schools in the county that do not have a NEPS service. Generally speaking, the town has been able to come together to deal with many of the issues it faces. The fabulous new community centre, which was built with the help of County Kildare Leader Partnership, Kildare County Council and the local community, has certainly been a welcome investment in the town. It is the home of the local youth café, which is used by the Scooters youth club, Foróige and other groups that wish to avail of it.

I would like to refer to the bad times we have come through in Rathangan. In 2012, we suffered the devastating loss of five young men over a very short period. As Deputies can imagine, this was a particularly high number of fatalities in the context of the population of the town. Although the people of the town were devastated, they came together as a community with the assistance of Kildare Youth Services, County Kildare Leader Partnership, local schools and local community activists, including myself. We got a very good response from the HSE, which funded a part-time youth counsellor and a part-time youth worker, who have been working very closely with young people in the community ever since. Since 31 March, the services of the youth counsellor are no longer being provided. We have been told that by the end of April, the services of the youth worker will no longer be provided. I understand that a review is being carried out by the HSE.

I would like to make an appeal to the Minister of State. The local community will be totally let down if these vital services, which have given huge support to the younger members of our community, in particular, are withdrawn. When I looked at the census figures this morning, it was evident that County Kildare has one of the highest youth populations in the country. There was a big fanfare last week when, thankfully, Tusla granted another youth worker to Kildare. It is simply not good enough for the State to give with one hand through one agency and to take away with the other hand through a different agency the following week.

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