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

I thank the Minister for his reply. He will get to know me. I am straightforward and I do not mess around with politeness that is not needed. The Minister mentioned assessments, ETBs and so on. The first hurdle is Covid. If the virus comes back, will we blame Covid? I understand this matter was raised with the Minister at short notice but that is also the case with me. There is a bigger picture at play.

What do I tell people in Carrigtwohill, east Cork and the Diocese of Cloyne, including the service providers and users, about what will happen to this café? Will there be a ripple effect? Will red tape and Covid be used to mask the loss of this service? This will create a void and I will be back in the House with the Minister or the Minster for Health discussing another cluster of youth suicides and asking why it is happening. I will be told there was a youth service but it is gone and some Deputy raised it at some point. This service does not cost much. The Minister mentioned a figure of €300,000. East Cork is a massive area. Considering the amount of voluntary work which goes on in the area, that sum is extremely small. I appeal to the Minister on behalf of all those who need youth services. We start from the bottom up, not the top down. We need to nurture our children now, educate them and give them support and security. I will contact the Minister's office at the weekend. I would like to sit down with him to see if we can do something to keep these services open and give the people involved an opportunity to tick all the boxes and jump over a couple of fences to get past the Covid barriers. That will not happen overnight and I appeal to the Minister to give me a commitment to keep this service open.

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