Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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2. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the commitment in Opportunities for Youth: National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services 2024-2028 to produce a workforce development strategy; if an advisory group has, or is intended to be, set up; the terms of reference for the group; if pay and conditions are to be considered as part of the strategy; if she intends to publish the findings of the surveys and consultations undertaken to date to inform the strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53905/26]

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I ask the Minister to provide the House with an update on the commitment with regards to Opportunities for Youth: National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services 2024-2028.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Education and Youth I am committed to supporting the workforce in the youth sector to deliver high-quality youth work and non-formal developmental opportunities for young people. Action 7 in Opportunities for Youth: National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services 2024-2028, commits to developing a workforce development strategy in respect of the youth sector. This is to include consideration of training needs and the requirement for high-quality, accessible and inclusive youth work services and opportunities.

The Department has engaged extensively with youth workers and managers in youth organisations and is aware of the recruitment and retention challenges being experienced in the sector. This engagement included completion of a workforce survey and employer questionnaire. These were followed by 11 regional, in person and online consultations. The data captured from the consultation period will inform the development of the strategy. Important data from the consultation include: the high level of job satisfaction in the sector; learning and development opportunities; the challenging recruitment and retention environment; the varying youth worker pay scales; different contract types; and details on average and median youth worker pay. Profile data on youth workers was also captured, including their qualifications, length of employment, age range, gender and ethnicity. It is important to highlight that this is the first time this information has been sought and received from the youth work sector.

It is important to highlight that this is the first time this information has been sought and received from the youth work sector and that will establish critical baseline information for us for the development of the strategy. To support the development of the workforce development strategy, a workforce advisory group will be established. My Department is working in partnership with the National Youth Council of Ireland to agree the role of this group, including its membership. It is intended for the advisory group to have its first meeting in September.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister. If she will indulge me, it is very rare I get the opportunity to speak about my life experience prior to being in here but I have been a youth worker for about 16 years or the guts of three Dáil terms. The day before the general election I submitted my PhD thesis, which was on professional youth work. It asked youth workers many of the same questions that were asked afterwards by the Department. I will happily share the findings with the Minister.

Youth workers, in the main, are very satisfied but equally they are very concerned about what the future looks like because we are losing good youth worker after good youth worker to other sectors who can offer more. They can offer more in terms of pay and remuneration but also the burnout associated with the occupation is really difficult.

When the Minister says that advisory group is going to meet in September, who makes up the membership of that? The information the Minister's Department has collected is golden with regard to the sector. Will the Minister publish the findings of that survey? It would be really useful information.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Farrelly. I would be very happy to receive that information. It would help our data collection and make sure we are getting a really good picture of the youth work sector across the country. The work that has been under way within the Department is to try to get that profile, to really understand our youth work sector and to get feedback from them.

The first advisory group will have its first meeting in September and the terms of reference of that group will be finalised once the group is established. My Department is working in consultation with the National Youth Council of Ireland to agree the role of that group. The workforce survey data will be shared with the workforce advisory group in the first instance to inform its work in overseeing the development of the strategy. The workforce data will also accompany the strategy in the publication. So, it will be published.

While the subject of the pay and conditions of the sector has been raised through consultations, they will not directly form part of the strategy. As the Deputy knows, youth workers are not employed by my Department. They are not public servants and funding is allocated on the provision of service spaces to meet the needs of the youth population in an area. The employment of the staff, including youth workers, is a matter relevant for youth organisations and services.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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It is acceptable that data will be shared with the task force in September but I ask that it be shared more widely once the terms of reference have been agreed. It would be really useful for the academic sector and for those who are in the market of training and professionally qualifying youth workers in the field.

I have been around long enough to have seen youth work move from Department to Department. The only conclusion I can come to in terms of analysis is that the Minister has a real opportunity in her Department to map out what the future of youth work looks like, and not just for the young people. We are consistently talking about the issues facing young people and how youth work is often a response to those issues. Actually, youth work is an occupation and profession that is one of the best jobs to have but we need to make sure the landscape is there for budding youth workers to go through appropriate professional qualification programmes and that the job will fulfil them not just from a rewarding job perspective but also from a financial perspective and from the perspective of promotions and so on, right through their 20s, 30s and 40s.

I wish that group the best. I also wish the Minister's Department the best in its endeavours with that and I thank her again.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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It is very fitting that youth has moved into the Department of education. It is a good fit. I have met with many youth organisations across the country since I was appointed and they seem very happy with the formal education and the informal education. I have witnessed the huge expertise on the ground. This is the data we want to collect and there is a willingness there and an appetite for training as well. As the Deputy knows very well, it is so important we have the right skill set in our youth services across the country, dealing with children and young people and with trauma, and making sure we have the best, which we do, and that workers are accessing the training they require.

For example, in response to some of the calls from the sector, a bursary initiative was established in June to support eligible youth workers and youth work managers to undertake the three-year MA qualification in community and youth work, part-time, in-service programme in Maynooth University. Also, the workforce advisory group will regularly update the nation youth sector reference group, which is also currently being established. That group will include representatives from across the youth sector, including academics and youth representatives, and will support a balanced and transparent input from across the wider sector.