Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As he is aware, we had a very enjoyable day at the centre about a year ago with the Deputy, other Deputies from the area and my colleague, Caroline Conroy, who was Lord Mayor of Dublin at the time. During my time as Minister, there have been significant increases in the level of investment in the youth sector. It is an area I have prioritised. Between 2021 and 2023, current Exchequer funding for youth services and programmes increased from €61.7 million to €72.9 million, or 18% across that three-year period.

The majority of the funding goes to UBU services, which is a youth funding scheme that targets disadvantaged young people with evidence-informed interventions and services that secure good outcomes. The overall allocation for UBU Your Place Your Space is over €46 million this year. Through UBU, my Department provides significant funding to the Finglas Youth Resource Centre. In 2023, €628,506 was provided to the Finglas Youth Resource Centre in UBU funding. In 2021, it was €572,944. That is a €56,000 increase over the last three years during my term of office. I know it could do more if it got more but it is a noticeable increase across that three-year period.

My Department also provided funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund of €37,061 to the Finglas Youth Resource Centre through the targeted youth employability support initiative. This was provided to engage and support the harder-to-reach young people aged 15 to 24 years not currently in employment, education or training. This was provided on a once-off basis in 2022 and it was clear at the time that it was a once-off payment. I saw the benefits of that particular programme when I visited the Finglas Youth Resource Centre. The mainstreaming of that programme is part of my budget 2024 ask and negotiations on that are ongoing. I can say no more about that at this point.

To speak to the wider issue, outside of the direct funding provided to Finglas Youth Resource Centre, funding of €13 million was made available to the 30 national and major regional voluntary organisations through the youth services grant scheme. The continued funding of voluntary youth organisations through the scheme is intended to ensure the emergence, promotion, growth and development of youth organisations with distinctive philosophies. My Department also provides funding of just over €1.5 million to youth information centres nationally. The purpose of these centres is to provide young people with access to information on rights, opportunities, benefits, health, welfare and other matters. I have initiated a reform of the youth service grant scheme and have commissioned research to inform plans to modernise youth information funding. It is important to say that this is the first time either of these two areas have been significantly reformed. In addition, €2.5 million has been allocated to volunteer-led youth work activities, supported through the local youth club grant scheme.

My Department provides funding to all 16 education and training boards around the country to support youth services in their area. They funnel the majority of the funding that comes to my Department. The Deputy made the point that area profiles are done to look at the particular needs and services that are funded are asked to support those needs in particular areas. I would absolutely like to see more investment in youth services, from the very specific targeted services like the Finglas Youth Resource Centre to those more generalised universal-type services. They do amazing work and can be life-changing for young people. I secured significant investments in the first and second years of me being in this Department. It was less last year for various reasons. We cannot do everything or all we want every single year but the funding of youth services is high in my mind in my budget 2024 negotiations.

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