Dáil debates
Thursday, 5 October 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Youth Services
2:50 pm
Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The Finglas Youth Resource Centre has been a force in the Finglas area for almost 20 years, during which time the centre has been empowering young people in the Finglas community by giving them opportunities to learn and grow as valued members of the community. The centre provides young people aged between ten and 25 with a safe and welcoming space where they have opportunities to grow and be themselves, allow them to grow in confidence, reach their potential and build on their own individual strengths. It is a registered charity and is fully compliant with the Charities Regulator's governance code. The centre is primarily funded through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth's service, UBU Your Place Your Space. The centre aims to deliver outcomes for young people guided by the UBU service requirements. It receives some funding from Léargas and other agencies which goes towards the delivery of target-based programmes, including youth exchanges and residentials.
There is no doubt about the commitment of those who work for the centre. This is more than just a job for them. It is almost a vocation for many who work in such youth services. They are passionate about providing young people with the skills and opportunities to become positive citizens in the community. Each year, the Finglas Youth Resource Centre has been given a service requirement from the Department, which sets for the resource centre a service target of a maximum of 200 people under three target groups based on the specific electoral districts. There are over 12,000 children and young people under the age of 24 living in these electoral districts. Each of these districts have areas that range from quite low on deprivation scores to disadvantaged to very disadvantaged. It is well recognised that some of these areas contain some of the most disadvantaged electoral divisions in north Dublin.
Research and engagement with the various stakeholders consulted for the overall area of Finglas helped to identify a number of issues from which the centre sets its various targets. The first targeted group is young people who are experiencing intergenerational economic, cultural and educational disadvantage. A second target group consists of young people experiencing issues relating to their general mental health, including anxiety, trauma and stress, and those at risk of bullying. A third target group is young people with additional needs relating to inclusivity. A fourth target group relates to young people affected by issues linked to substance misuse by family members, personal drug use, drug dealing and drug deaths. The final group is young people aged 16 to 24 who are not involved in education.
For 2024, this is all now being condensed into three target groups addressing the same issues and needs. Since the economic downturn of 2008, funding has not been restored. In 2007, the centre received an overall allocation of €662,827. Sixteen years later, its allocation was €628,506. The centre has also lost staff due to the lack of proper funding. For example, it no longer has a youth service manager or administrator. The centre is down on five full-time positions. This is leading to people taking on roles and extra work, which is greatly affecting the well-being of the staff and the proper functioning of the centre. The centre has long waiting lists and the staff are trying to cope with the volume of young people who need the services of the centre. While they were required to work with 200 young people, they in fact worked with more than 550 young people. This centre needs to be properly resourced and funded. It is hugely successful centre and an invaluable resource for the youth of Finglas.
Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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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.
3:00 pm
Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister's Department funds youth work to the tune of €72.9 million nationally, as he said. I understand that. The National Youth Council of Ireland, the people who advocate policy for young people at national level, is calling for €9.4 million to be invested in the youth work sector. It is proposing that €7.3 million of this additional funding go to various current schemes already in place and €2.1 million to universal youth work, to bring this in line with increases elsewhere in the sector. I am sure the Minister is aware of that. The Finglas Youth Resource Centre would hopefully receive an adequate portion of that funding if the Minister would look at it. I know he has increased the funding over the last two years but going back to 2007, the funding the youth resource centre was getting was higher. It is not even near that at the moment. We need to bear that in mind. While the Minister has made progress and increased funding in the last two years, it is no way near what it was in 2007. We have had inflation, food poverty, utility costs and the cost of living. Everything has gone up.
In 2007, the youth resource centre had 14 full-time posts. It now has nine full-time posts with people fulfilling large roles. Some people are going way beyond what they should be doing. They are doubling up and doing things. It does not make sense. This resource centre is so important. If we did not have the volunteers and the people doing the extra work, I shudder to think how things would go because there is no doubt that it would have a huge effect. I am asking that the Minister look at this. I know he gave some money towards helping some projects but they are not always permanent and are not pencilled in. We need to pencil in more money for that youth resource centre and for people to run it and the full-time jobs that are required.
Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I met the National Youth Council of Ireland and we discussed its budget submission. I met it individually and also as part of a much wider annual forum we have with those in the youth sector to discuss challenges including funding and recruitment. We discuss the range of challenges they have but also the amazing work they do. The Deputy is absolutely right that the youth sector bore a very disproportionate share of cuts during the economic recession and has been playing catch-up for a long time. It is not fully caught up yet but I have been able to do a significant amount over the last three years. In every budget, I endeavour to do more because this is a sector that is close to my own heart and I will be doing my best this year. The Deputy knows the range of my Department. We were discussing disabilities a moment ago and I was discussing childcare with some of his colleagues earlier. There is a range of very real needs across my Department but I see the importance of youth work. I see its importance for young people. I see the great work the workers the Deputy spoke about do in their individual communities in supporting young people, in diverting them through very real interventions, sometimes in crisis situations where young people are really at risk of being dragged into addiction or criminality or might suffer significant mental health situations. We want to continue to resource that and my Department will continue to support organisations like this and others all over the country.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is Deputy Carroll MacNeill here to deal with the Private Members' Business?
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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No, for the Topical Issue.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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She is dealing with Deputy O'Rourke's matter but he is nut here. Him not being here, we must proceed.