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

I welcome the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to the club. Sometimes he will get an easy ride and sometimes he will not.

This issue was only brought to me late last night. What is known in Carrigtwohill in east Cork as the CDYS, the Cloyne Diocesan Youth Service, is facing closure because of a lack of funding. From the information I received, it is a youth cafe that may close by 22 July and it is down to funding. In my conversations with the co-ordinator for the area and also with the parents and a couple of young kids who use the services, it really got me worrying last night. It has done so much fabulous work in the area in its short time. It has got massive buy-in from the local community but it has only been supported by a one-off philanthropy grant, the St. Vincent de Paul and a local parish priest. We had Brexit and now we seem to be blaming Covid for everything. I raise this out of my former capacity as mental health spokesperson. These young kids are very vulnerable. We have had ongoing issues with new schools in Carrigtwohill as well, so the kids do not know where they are going to school in September. If they are not sports-minded, they have no other outlet..

The kids are genuinely worried about this.

There are many sports clubs around east Cork and I thank all those involved for their work in the community. These clubs are outlets to aid positive mental health. We also have the east Cork music project. Other than these great facilities, we will not have stability or security for young people in a few weeks. Parents are very distressed. East Cork stretches over a very wide area. The Cloyne Diocesan Youth Service offers a therapeutic service for young people in Mallow, Charleville, Mitchelstown. Creative Community Alternatives, CCA, is another vital service that offers play therapy, art therapy, counselling, community and psychotherapy. All this could fall.

I hope the Minister will recognise that I speak to him in an empathetic, honest way. My concerns are genuine. I hope I will not get a standard response. Is there a possibility of keeping this vital service open? If his answer is "No", I will explain to him why it is so important. For every action, there is a reaction and we are a reactive rather than proactive society. If this service is closed, there will be a domino effect. Some young people will not return to school in September - if the schools open - because they will not be alive. Their mental health will be so damaged that we will be facing bigger issues than we do already.

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