Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with the Minister in complimenting Deputy Stanton on the amount of work he did on this. The YDPs have used Government resources to target people and families in a very meaningful way. Some areas are not being picked up on. The YDPs are based in large urban centres. There is scope within the new budget announced just a few weeks ago to operate in rural areas. What targets are there in respect of rural areas? There is no clear guidance or mechanism to encourage young people back into education. There is a certain percentage of people we should target at a very young age with a view to keeping them in education to prevent crime becoming a way of life for them. These projects have predominantly operated in urban settings and they have worked well in some settings. Has the Minister or the Department looked at the need outside of the main urban centres? Have they looked at the statistics on crime, young people coming before courts, people not attending schools and so forth and made a decision as to how to better target different areas through the YDPs?

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