Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the fine work of the many thousands of volunteers within the youth work system. The contribution of volunteers to youth services, projects and clubs is very significant and their commitment is crucial to the strong and diverse youth infrastructure which has been developed across the country. In recognition of the contribution volunteers make for young people, I announced a 13% increase in funding for the local youth club grants scheme in 2018, bringing the overall funding allocation to €1.79 million.  The additional funding will result in a greater volume of volunteer-led youth activities over the course of 2018. In addition, last year I announced the local youth club equipment scheme, under which €6.35 million was made available to volunteer-led clubs and groups that worked with young people in communities throughout the country.  The scheme enabled these volunteer-led clubs to purchase equipment for sports, arts, adventure and other much needed items.

In addition to this funding, my Department provides annual funding for the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, the representative body for voluntary youth organisations in Ireland.  The NYCI supports the interests of volunteering youth organisations and provides an online resource for anyone interested in volunteering in youth work.  This online resource brings together useful information on volunteering opportunities, advice and downloadable resources such as a national induction training programme and details of the NYCI policy on volunteering to assist youth work organisations in the recruitment and retention of volunteers.

I am conscious that owing to their size smaller youth organisations can find it difficult to meet compliance and administrative requirements. With this in mind, my Department is engaged in a process to provide funding for the NYCI to enable the recruitment of a suitable provider to offer professional assistance to smaller voluntary youth organisations. It is intended that the chosen provider will offer a shared service to support the organisations in meeting their compliance, legal and regulatory duties.

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