Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of Foróige clubs that are supported by his Department; the number of clubs that are in operation in counties Cavan and Monaghan; the level of activity of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28460/22]

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for being here. I am substituting for Deputy Niamh Smith. Will it be possible to get an outline of Government funding towards Foróige clubs that are supported by the Minister's Department, with regard to support provided for Cavan and Monaghan and indeed, nationally?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In total, my Department provided funding to 264 Foróige clubs nationally through the local youth club grant scheme in 2020, the latest year for which figures have been collated. Approximately 1,200 grants were made that year. Data for 2021 will be collated in the near future. A total of 72 grants were made in the Cavan and Monaghan education and training board area in 2020. Of these, 16 were made to Foróige clubs, making it the largest group to receive a local youth club grant scheme in that area.

I secured €2.5 million for the scheme in 2022, which represented a 20% increase on 2021. As the Deputy knows, as part of budgets 2020 and 2021, in each year I have been able to secure an additional €5 million for the youth sector. That means that in 2022, including capital allocations, the overall annual budget for youth funding was €73 million.

The local youth club grant scheme funding supports volunteer-led local youth work activities at a local level. The grants are made available through the local education and training boards.

My Department does not collate information on the activities of individual youth clubs. These will vary according to local needs and engagements with young people. I have been advised that some of the services provided by Foróige local youth clubs include training and education programmes, including ones for potential early school leavers and disadvantaged minority groups, and school holiday programmes, which include activities, courses, workshops and outdoor pursuits.

The local youth club grant scheme has a maximum grant level of €3,000, while the average nationally is approximately €1,500. The scheme supports in the region of 1,400 clubs or groups nationally. In recent years, Cavan-Monaghan reported that 80 or so clubs were receiving grants. As the Deputy knows, we maintained youth funding during the Covid restrictions to support the amazing online work, in many situations, that local youth clubs undertook to support young people. I will continue, in this year's budget, to seek to increase the overall funding for the youth sector, because it does such valuable work.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I will certainly relay that fabulous information to Deputy Niamh Smyth, who has been a keen supporter of the work undertaken in her constituency by youth organisations. Covid-19 has done a lot of damage to the growth and development of younger people. It has made it hard for people who are doing voluntary work with organisations like Foróige to get them back up and running and operating in-person again. I wish them well with it and acknowledge the fabulous work done by that organisation in communities across the country.

What particular supports does the Government plan to provide in the next 12 months? It is important that we get a commitment from the Minister about what he intends to do ahead of the upcoming budget. It is also important that we continue to support youth organisations post pandemic.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Absolutely. I hope to continue to grow the overall funding envelope. We have grown it by €5 million cumulatively each year and hope to continue to do that. The key scheme we are looking at is UBU Your Place Your Space, which is a targeted funding scheme. We have announced eight new schemes this year and announced six new schemes last year. We will look to continue to grow that. We had a useful discussion with youth groups from the Deputy's own area about providing additional support. We conversed about how that could be progressed at education and training board level and we are seeking to provide the funding. We are also looking at a major reform of the youth services grant scheme, which is the funding scheme for the more general, universal youth funding. Many groups rely on that. When something like that is changed, it has to be done slowly and in consultation so no one feels left out or that their funding is at risk. We are looking to reform that and make it fit for purpose in order that we can continue to expand that scheme as well.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I was delighted to have the Minister speak on a digital call with groups in my constituency recently. He made a point about funding being devolved through the Department to different organisations, including education and training boards. I often find that those organisations have their own agenda. Sometimes, geographical areas are left out. Unfortunately, Youghal, which is a town I am passionate about because I was born and raised there, has struggled to get grant support through the departmental grant mechanisms, because it is devolved to different units which have their own serious priorities in different regions of County Cork, which is extraordinarily large. I can get from my house in Youghal to Leinster House quicker than I can get to the other side of County Cork. That gives an idea of the geographical scale of County Cork. Will the Minister look at whether there is a balanced distribution of funding to different geographical areas, which is really important for a constituency like Cork?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy made that point strongly when we met. I take it on board. It is good to give some degree of local autonomy when identifying these issues. When my Department and I identify what Youghal, Fermoy or other parts of Cork mean, it is not as good as when local elements do so. We need to ensure there is a wide spread of funding and to recognise the importance of supporting youth in rural areas too. It is not just about supporting what is happening in cities and large towns, but also about supporting rural youth services. At least two of the UBU services announced this year, in Clare and Donegal, are specifically rural services, so there will be a more diffuse model rather than just one youth club somewhere. There are different models to support the different scenarios that young people are in, which I think is really important.