Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

There is a body of work still to do on just this and identifying where are the gaps. This is separate work that is happening in the Department on mapping exactly where the services are and what types of services are being provided. This is so we can identify where the gaps are and link up better with the education portfolio and identify what resources are needed. I want to make sure current funding increases as much as possible. There is approximately €85 million between current and capital funding provided for our youth services at present. I want to see this increased, not only from the current perspective but also on the capital side.

I think of youth organisations in my own county of Meath. They are doing phenomenal work but they are working in old buildings that were not made for this particular purpose and are not fit for it. It is important to support them to upgrade, modernise or identify new spaces, where possible. We must also make sure we have the workers. It is a really important objective of mine to use the workforce plan to identify not only how to attract more people into the profession, but also how to keep the really fantastic workers that are there.

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