Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Loughlin for raising this issue as well. I will try not to be repetitive. Scooters youth club was established in Rathangan in 1996 and has flourished with the support of the local community and local businesses since then. It meets the specific need for such services in this rural part of County Kildare. Approximately 50 young people access youth services in the town, including those provided by Foróige. As Deputy O'Loughlin informed the House, a youth café was established in Rathangan recently. Most importantly, Scooters youth club has provided a much-needed community response to the deaths of young people that were mentioned by Deputy O'Loughlin, for example, by building youth counselling services with a focus on mental health and well-being. The youth counselling service has ceased and the services of the youth worker who was allocated to the club for 19 hours a week are set to cease at the end of the month. This cut will reduce opening hours by 82% to just four hours a week, which is absolutely shocking.

Kildare Youth Services believes these cuts in funding will have a serious impact in the local area, which is already geographically isolated. The limited transport service in the area makes it more difficult for young people to seek HSE-led services outside Rathangan. When the national task force on mental health was established by the Government, it was stated that its aim was to bring youth mental health to the fore through our education system. The Government also made much of its claim that it would prioritise mental health. We need to be realistic. Young people deserve this service. The young people for whom these services were put in place have probably grown up, but a new generation with new challenges has come along. The removal of these services at this time is like pulling the plug out of a bath after it has been filled up and expecting it not to empty. Prevention is better than cure. If these resources are removed now, they will be even more desperately needed in the future. Those involved with Scooters youth club have made the reasonable request to be part of the conversation about what happens to the club's resources. They were not consulted. They want the young people in the area to be asked about this, which is very important. Consultation should happen. Under no circumstances should these resources be removed.

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