James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Deputy for raising the question. We have significantly increased the funding for youth diversion projects. Also, I have met with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and my Civil Service staff are engaging with other Departments. I agree with the Deputy that youth diversion projects are hugely important, but we also need all our various services, whether underage addiction services or early school leaver programmes, such that all the various organisations helping young people for that second chance are engaged together complement one another. That is probably the best way we can do that. They all come under different Departments, but we are actively ensuring that there are not those silos in place. We have some really good examples around the country, particularly in Dublin, of those agencies working very well together informally. One thing I notice when I travel around the country is that where those services are provided in the same building or on the same campus, as they often are, the various youth workers get a real bounce off one another with that shared expertise. We are actively looking at that.

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