Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald. As she is aware, Foróige, the national youth development organisation, was founded in 1952. It deals with approximately 53,000 young people each year in the context of fostering their development and that of society. Some ten years ago it established the internationally proven Big Brother Big Sister programme in Ireland. Foróige's stated vision for the programme is to build successful mentoring relationships for all young people who need and want them, thereby contributing to better schools, brighter future and stronger communities for all. The programme is based on the premise of matching young people with caring adults or friends who assist them in developing positive assets. Having a caring adult friend can help to build positive assets for young people to enable them to develop a commitment to learning, a positive sense of self and the future, positive values of caring, social justice, honesty and responsibility, and social competencies of making friends, planning, making decisions and resisting negative behaviour.

The Big Brother Big Sister programme has been in operation here for more than ten years - in a community and a school setting - and has dealt with more than 3,500 youngsters. The plan is to develop it further so that it might deal with 2,000 each year. The programme has been objectively evaluated and the outcomes relating to it have been shown to have brought about considerable improvements in young people. For the past five years the programme has been in receipt of funding from philanthropic organisations such as Atlantic Philanthropy. At present, this funding stands at somewhere in the region of €1.2 million. This funding was provided to demonstrate that the programme is viable and valuable. Its viability has been proven. However, the philanthropic organisations involved will not provide funding indefinitely. It is likely that Atlantic Philanthropy and the other organisation involved will withdraw from the programme unless the State becomes involved in some way. I understand that if the State were to provide €600,000 in matching funds, the other €600,000 would be made available by the two organisations in question on a long-term basis.

The Minister is well aware that it costs at least €100,000 to keep one young person in a State institution. For the amount it would cost - €600,000 - to confine six such individuals in such institutions, it would be possible for Foróige to deal with approximately 2,000 young people through its Big Brother Big Sister programme each year. This programme is viable and it provides young people with a direction in life through the establishment of role models. Given that there is a great need for role models and mentoring in the constituency I represent, I am of the view that the programme is invaluable. It would be a shame if the programme were to be lost simply because the philanthropic organisations which have been involved to date withdraw their funding because the State is not prepared to provide matching funds. I urge the Minister to give careful consideration to this matter with a view to ensuring that the programme will remain in operation.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Deputy Costello for raising this matter which, I appreciate, is of great interest to him and many other Members. Like them, I have been greatly impressed by the range of services provided by Foróige in communities across the State. Soon after my appointment as Minister I had the honour of addressing the Foróige annual leaders conference in Kilkenny and saw at first hand the number of volunteers who attended. I have since visited several Foróige projects throughout the country, including in my constituency. On all occasions I have been very impressed with the work of Foróige.

We are all well aware of the threats posed to young people by alcohol, drugs and unhealthy lifestyles. In the context, we must come to grips with the challenges posed by consumerism, the media and new technologies. The opportunities provided by youth work services and projects - such as those offered by Foróige - support young people in dealing with the issues to which I refer and in becoming: confident individuals, effective contributors, successful learners and responsible citizens. That is why I am strongly support youth work.

I must place this matter in context. My Department will provide €60 million in funding to the youth sector during the current year. Foróige is currently in receipt of just over €6 million of this, which represents 10% of the Department's total youth work budget. In addition, Foróige is in receipt of significant funding from other Departments and State bodies. For example, it received more than €3 million in 2010 from the Irish Youth Justice Service in respect of 29 Garda youth diversion projects. Foróige works very effectively with local gardaí and with those involved in community projects. I have received reports from the officers and community workers involved which indicate that these projects are operating well. Foróige also received significant levels of further funding from other State bodies including the HSE, the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and local authorities. In 2009, Foróige received approximately €16.2 million in funding from the State.

The Big Brother Big Sister programme was developed in the United States as a mentoring programme that matches an adult volunteer to a young person, typically ten to 18 years old. It consists of two types of programmes, namely, a community-based programme and a school-based programme. The Deputy is correct in stating that the programme has been evaluated. This is happening with increasing frequency throughout the sector and programmes are being evaluated as they develop. The Big Brother Big Sister programme involves a young person and an adult volunteer meeting, under supervision, once a week for a minimum of one year. The school-based programme aims to ease the transition of primary school students to secondary school by facilitating friendships between first year secondary school students and older students in their schools.

The Big Brother Big Sister programme is aimed at young participants who may be at risk of cultural or economic disadvantage. They may also have poor social skills. My Department and I recognise that many such innovative programmes have an important role in improving outcomes for children and young people. I commend Foróige on its initiative in introducing the programme to Ireland.

Foróige secured funding for this project from two philanthropic organisations, namely, Atlantic Philanthropy and the One Foundation. This funding was for a period of five years up to the end of 2011. Contrary to what the Deputy stated - I will check the position in this regard - I understand this funding is not being continued into 2012. Once-off funding was made available from the dormant accounts fund to assist with the evaluation of the programme, with some localised funding coming from the HSE. To date the Big Brother Big Sister programme has not been in receipt of any dedicated funding from of my Department's annual youth work budget. No commitment to future funding was given by my Department when the programme was established or since.

In light of the budgetary situation, the youth affairs funding schemes operated by my Department have not been in a position to accept new applications for funding since 2008. The focus has been on making existing interventions and services offered by those organisations in receipt of funds more effective.

My Department is currently examining options to reform funding allocation models to give youth organisations more flexibility in managing their allocation and to ensure both funding and on-the-ground youth provision are better focussed and responsive to the needs of young people in local communities. We are actively working in this regard. Having regard to the current fiscal environment, the reductions in public expenditure that must be achieved by Departments and State agencies, and in light of further budgetary constraints in 2012, it may not at this stage be realistic to envisage additional resources being available in 2012. However, I am very happy to continue to work with Foróige to seek to prioritise the most effective utilisation of existing resources, in particular from within the substantial envelope of existing State funding being provided to it, and to assist in ensuring the essential learning from the Big Brother Big Sister project is maintained and developed.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply, which covers much of the ground and indicates the good work being done by Foróige. I understand from Foróige that whereas it gets 10% of State funding, it provides 15% of the youth services, so it is money well spent in that respect. In my constituency it shares an office with the Garda diversionary project and there is a linkage which is very valuable.

I may be wrong but my information is that the reason the philanthropic organisations are pulling out is a lack of engagement from the State. If there was engagement from the State for part of the funding, the philanthropic bodies would have been content to remain and be involved in further funding. Is this the case and is the Minister prepared to engage with the funding organisations, such as the One Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies, to see if there can be a reasonable contribution from the State if the bodies would allow matching funds to ensure the continuation of the project?

Foróige's current target is 2,000 people who are very much at risk in areas where we must make every effort to keep people out of trouble. A mentoring programme is very valuable and has been proven to be effective. I ask the Minister to speak with representatives of Foróige to see what level of funding may be forthcoming from those philanthropic organisations.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My understanding from contact with Foróige in recent times has been that the projected budget requirements for 2012 were €1.42 million and €1.63 million. The question of matching funding in the order described by the Deputy is new to me.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is roughly half of that or €600,000.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is not what I have been requested to provide. To date I have been requested to provide the amounts I quoted. It was certainly not clear that the agencies would reconsider and my understanding was that they were withdrawing funding. I am prepared to hear if Atlantic Philanthropies and the One Foundation are still interested and willing to provide that kind of funding. We are still left with the difficulty I outlined and the current demands on it. This would effectively be a new programme for the Department because it has not had dedicated funding before and given the current budgetary climate, we would be taking money from somewhere else. Many local youth projects need the funding I am giving them, so I still have a difficulty even if the organisations were willing to contribute 50% of funding. The Deputy mentioned €600,000 and my figures are €1.42 million and €1.63 million. It is unlikely the funding will be found this year, to be straight, in view of the demands on the Department and the expenditure review currently being undertaken by the Government.