Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)

I thank the Minister of State for being here to discuss what is frankly a crisis in the way the State approaches youth work in the north inner city. Over the past few weeks we have all seen the headlines on the spate of crimes in the area. I am not going to sensationalise what is happening. Instead, I want to force this Government to acknowledge that these youth people, some of them not even out of their teenage years, are being pulled into drug-running and dealing because we have failed them long before members of An Garda Síochána even met them on scooters. I cannot overstate this. Youth work is crime prevention. I wish to speak to the Minister of State about youth work, specifically in the north inner city. It is, to some degree, underfunded. We also have youth workers feeling scared as they go about their daily lives trying to just do the job that is so important for the communities they serve. I give a particular shout-out and recognition to Independent Youth Works Project Dublin, which has 20 projects across the city, including the SWAN Youth Service, Cabra for Youth and Rutland Youth Service. They came together last year with one simple modest ask: sustained structural funding rather than the piecemeal grant system it is forced to survive on year after year. There is also the Bradóg Youth Service, which is currently paying €70,000 a year for its building and is struggling to stay open because of it. When we hear the Government talk about tackling so-called antisocial behaviour or launching initiatives on community safety, we cannot talk about safety while continuing to underfund the very services that prevent crime in the first place.

What I am talking about today is not in the abstract. In Mountjoy Square, a community after-school project has been asking for months for something as basic as a new front door because there are holes in the one it has. This is the reality. Kids in one of the most deprived parts of the capital are walking into a youth space that cannot even afford a proper front door while millions of euro are found for surveillance and policy initiatives. The Minister for justice has often told me I need to be more positive about the city. I have just suggested some real, positive measures that can be taken. We do so consistently. Will the Minister of State commit to real, targeted, ongoing funding for youth services in Dublin's north inner city? I am not talking about ad hoc grants, pilots or press releases but about sustained investment in the very services that will keep our young people out of crime and give them a chance.

In the north inner city, which is actually often discussed in a way, there are communities that experience generational poverty and trauma but we have always had people willing to stand up and give good community-orientated service to the area in which they grew up. Oftentimes, the services in which they do that are cut to the bone in terms of funding. These youth workers are those we ask to be on the front line of many of the issues that talk about when we talk about addressing antisocial behaviour. It is often the youth workers themselves who are going in and talking to younger people who are often traumatised or in the throes of addiction. At this point, we are a stage where young people are now being groomed into drug gangs. These services are supported to a degree but not to the extent that would make a sustained difference to the areas. Last week, I was taken aback to see reports in the newspaper of something I probably understood but when I saw it written down it was blatant and that is youth workers being scared at the moment, such is the level of intimidation, drug-related intimidation and associated violence. If we are to take these communities - and not just in the north inner city - and their safety seriously, we need to invest, not only in more community gardaí on the street, but in tackling the violent disrupters themselves who are operating in centres that are often underfunded and unsuitable.

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