Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after ??That?? and substitute the following:??Seanad Éireann:

acknowledges the important role that youth work has played and continues to play in assisting young people in Ireland, in supporting them to be active citizens and to reach their potential;
welcomes the Assessment of the Economic Value of Youth Work Report (For the National Youth Council of Ireland by Indecon International Economic Consultants, 2012), which shows that for every ¤1 the State invests in youth work there is a long term benefit and saving of ¤2.22 to the State;
affirms the important role of the voluntary youth work sector in young people?s lives with the Value of Youth Work Report noting that the sector is significant in scale and reach, with almost 383,000 young people benefiting from a wide range of programmes and services;
notes the important role of youth work in addressing social exclusion and poverty with the Value of Youth Work Report indicating that 53% of participants in youth work activities are from socially and/or economically disadvantaged areas;
welcomes the finding in the Value of Youth Work Report that 26% of young people in Ireland participate in a youth club or some kind of youth organisation, which is the highest level of participation in the European Union;
acknowledges the vital role of over 40,000 volunteers in the youth work sector who give their time and life experience to work with and for young people in their communities;
recognises the important work of 1,400 paid staff who, on a daily basis, provide many of the supports and services for both young people and volunteers;
notes the 10.4% increase in the youth population between the ages of 10-14 from 273,872 in 2006 to 302,491 in 2011;
notes that Ireland, at 18.4% in 2011, has the 4th highest number of young people not ?in education, employment or training? (NEETS) in the European Union compared to an EU average of 12.9%;
further notes, that Ireland, at 37% compared to a 27% EU average, has the highest number of children and young people under 18 years of age at risk of poverty and social exclusion;
recognises the need to address the high levels of youth unemployment with over 29% of young people under 25 now unemployed with over a third of young men aged 20-24 out of work;
acknowledges the ¤56.8m in current expenditure provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to support youth work in 2012, but is concerned at the 20% cut in funding since 2008.

In particular Seanad Éireann:

1. acknowledges the role of the voluntary youth work sector in supporting young people who are not in education, training or employment and to work in partnership with the youth sector at local and national level to address social exclusion and youth unemployment;
2. recognises in policy and funding decisions the important role of the voluntary youth sector in reaching and supporting young people from the most socially and/or economically disadvantaged communities in Ireland;
3. takes into account the economic benefits and long term savings to the State through investment in youth work as outlined in the Value of Youth Work Report;
4. notes while there is a small overall reduction in the numbers of young people in the 10-24 age group, there is an increasing number of young people in the 10-14 year old age cohort who will be seeking supports and services in their communities in the coming five years.

And supports the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in:

1. progressing a quality agenda with the youth work sector via the ongoing implementation of the National Quality Standards Framework for youth work and the introduction of National Quality Standards for Volunteer-led Youth Groups as a means to enhancing the quality of youth work programmes and activities for young people;
2. providing significant capital funding for the development of youth facilities, including youth cafés and youth projects, which are providing a range of services for young people and are proving hugely beneficial to local communities in terms of broader engagement with young people;
3. prioritising the protection of funding for front-line volunteer-led provision via the Local Youth Club Grants Scheme which supports over 1,600 volunteer-led youth groups each year;
4. reforming and rationalising funding streams to provide greater flexibility to local youth work providers to manage savings and refocus service provision to respond to local needs;
5. progressing a value-for-money review of youth work funding, to be completed in 2013, to ensure optimal use of future funding provision;
6. proposing an effective and dynamic agenda for Ireland?s Presidency of the EU Council of Youth Ministers, which will seek to highlight and actively support the contribution of youth to improving outcomes for Europe?s young people, in particular in relation to supporting youth employment;
7. developing a Youth Policy Framework which will enhance the development, participation and support of young people.??.