Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator van Turnhout for putting the motion before the House and I am delighted that the Seanad has chosen to have this discussion on youth work at this time. It is a timely debate on the value of youth work and the future of youth work funding. It is interesting to hear Senators' stories about involvement in youth work and the value coming from it. I endorse the comments about the potential of youth work and what it means to individuals around the country.

I welcome the recent publication of the economic assessment of the value of youth work carried out by Indecon on behalf of the National Youth Council of Ireland. I take this opportunity to welcome those in the Visitors Gallery who work in this area and care about the future of youth work in Ireland. The report, from which I quoted recently when we were discussing the Estimates in committee, is very valuable. I made the point that we have had a good deal of research in regard to the early years and we are beginning to see more research now about the value of intervention by youth work. It is very helpful to have a report such as this and I commend the board and its chair, James O'Leary, and the staff led by the director, Mary Cunningham, on their initiative in commissioning this research. This kind of research is important and it is the way of the future in regard to youth work.

The report illustrates the breadth, depth and value of the youth work sector in Ireland and provides an assessment of the value and contribution of youth work to the economy, to young people themselves and to the entire social fabric of our society. It contains many interesting findings which I have brought to the attention of the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform, Social Protection, and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

As referenced in the motion, I would like to acknowledge the benefits of youth work. For young people, there is no doubt that engagement in quality youth work can equip them with applicable and transferable skills and competences. Many of these skills are core and transferable to life and work and include cognitive and non-cognitive skills, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, effective communication, motivation, persistence, creativity, innovation, etc. There is no doubt that young people can gain all of those skills through their involvement in youth work, but it is also about improving outcomes from enhancing social inclusion and civic engagement to maximising resilience and minimising risks, including risks of marginalisation, and improving employability.

It is important to be clear about the kind of skills people can gain from youth work and the way they are applicable in the world today. One consequence of the economic situation facing young people is that they are experiencing what are called elongated transitions between dependence and independence and, unfortunately, they are facing less certain trajectories in terms of occupational engagement and progression. That presents key challenges which are being recognised nationally and at European level but it also presents challenges for youth work itself in terms of where it is going, the way it relates to young people in this new environment, and its focus. It is also challenging for a Department like mine in terms of youth policy and future directions of youth policy. There are particular challenges we must examine. I say that with particular relevance to those young people mentioned by Senator van Turnhout, about whom we have not spoken hugely in Ireland. Other countries have had sharper debates about the needs of young people not in employment, education or training, but we are beginning to do that, despite our very high rate of such young people. This is a group that is coming to the fore in terms of policy discourse and focus.

Senator van Turnhout also referred to the youth sector being significant in terms of scale and reach, with 382,000 young people involved in youth work in Ireland. There are probably 1,400 full-time equivalent workers and more than 40,000 volunteers. I have been struck by the numbers of volunteers we have when travelling around the country, which the Senator acknowledges.

There should be no doubt that the sector is both valued and very valuable. A rich tapestry of people are involved in the voluntary sector, community-based organisations, and services which provide so much to our young people. the sector has great strength and depth, a great deal of organisational diversity, which is welcome, reach and impact.

I have visited many youth services and I am very impressed by the range and quality of the opportunities being given to young people. I have seen services, small and large, doing a variety of programmes and it is very encouraging to see the commitment of the staff, the engagement by the young people and the range of services, work and community involvement by the young people involved in youth work. We have youth cafés which provide very positive, healthy environments where young people can meet. I have seen youth projects working with young offenders and early school leavers, and youth clubs working in various ways to support young people's development as active citizens.

Understandably, one of the focuses in the discussion on youth work is funding. To recap briefly, the current position is that in 2012, the Department funded youth work to the tune of ¤56 million, and the youth sector also benefited from funding from the Irish Youth Justice Service, which is now co-located in my Department. That was ¤7.8 million in funding for the running of the very effective Garda diversion projects within the youth sector. The citizen participation unit of my Department has also been provided with funding in the region of ¤300,000 in 2012 to youth organisations with respect to consultation initiatives with children and young people. That is an important focus. We saw in the recent referendum the discussion about hearing the views of young people. It is important that we do not have that just at constitutional level but that we see it in practice, and this is a way of ensuring that. For example, we had a consultation recently with young people who had been in care and heard their voices. Those type of initiatives are very important.

Through this funding we provide support to 33 national youth work organisations;181 projects under thespecial projects for youth scheme; 28 under the youth information centres scheme; 104 mainstream projectsunder the young people's facilities and services fund; and 178 current projectssupported under round 2 of the young people's facilities and services fund. We also fund 21 drugs projects. We have 1,600 youth clubsfunded under the local youth club grants scheme. We have the Youth in Action programme;Gaisce - the President's Award, which is doing very good work; and the national programmesin the areas of youth health, youth arts and child protection. It is obvious from that list that a substantial amount of activity is being funded.

There is a great deal of untapped potential in the youth sector when it comes to improving young people's lives. Youth workers have known that for years. However, policymakers have been slow to recognise the potential benefit on offer from quality youth work but we are at that point now. There are not any questions in that regard. We recognise and acknowledge the value of youth work, and it is a question of where to go from here.

I want to give the House an indication of my thinking and that of the Department on the future of youth work and some of the issues we must consider. I would like to support the youth work sector to occupy a more central position in the continuum of services available to young people and to see the youth sector being in a position to respond to some of the major issues currently affecting young people. However, this is not solely about funding. It requires a much sharper focus on quality, outcomes and evidence-based practice. The Indecon report supports this view. The reality of the significantly constrained resources available to youth work makes the need for this sharper focus all the more relevant and critical.

As part of all our efforts to address the financial situation, my Department, like all others, has had to find savings. The comprehensive review of expenditure, CRE, requires savings to be made in my Department's youth work budget. That is the reality. The 2013 allocation for youth work, between current and capital, will be in excess of ¤53million. This remains a significant level of funding. I appreciate the constraints organisations are facing but many large youth service providers will receive multi-million euro allocations. For example, Foróige and Youth Work Ireland will each receive in the region of ¤2 million from the youth service grant scheme alone, and that does not factor in other allocations to local projects run by these providers which in any year will amount to a much greater multiple.

I am acutely aware, however, that the youth work sector has seen its budget reduced significantly in recent years. I wish it were otherwise. I recognise this has not been easy and has not been without some pain. However, I am impressed by the way the sector has responded by restructuring and streamlining provision. In seeking out further savings, I am committed to further reforms to make the best possible use of resources. There are initiatives my Department can take that will make it easier for youth organisations to provide the range of services they have provided in the past and to continue to develop.

The amendment I tabled seeks to reflect the ongoing and proposed programme of reforms, which seeks to achieve this much sharper focus on quality, outcome and evidence-based practice. This must start with reforming and rationalising funding streams and progressing value for money reviews of youth work funding. It is striking that, over the past 20 or 30 years, we have not reviewed these funding streams. It is about time we did and that is what I am doing at present. We must deal with some of the disparate funding streams and examine overlap. There has been much overlap and youth organisations have told me such reform should take place. It will take place next year, which will mean greater flexibility for youth work organisations in how they spend their money and greater flexibility rather than being artificially tied to particular funding streams. That will make a difference and ensure youth organisations can deliver the programmes they choose to prioritise within certain parameters rather than arbitrary and unreformed funding streams. It is an important initiative that will happen next year.

These reforms will be aligned with identified policy imperatives. The objectives will be clear and outcome-focused. That will be a help to the sector. We also have a value for money review and we will have a report by mid-2013. It is part of an overall Government approach to examining various programmes in respect of value for money and ongoing reform. That will also inform us. It will take account of the voluntary input to youth work sector.

We must also examine quality provision in youth work. It is very important that we examine a quality standards initiative. It is something the youth work sector has welcomed. We should look at what the youth work sector is providing, how it is doing so and ask questions about quality and outcomes. We should base our decisions on the answers to those points.

Since becoming Minister, I have been clear on how youth work in Ireland is regarded internationally. It is very well regarded and it is great to see the input Irish youth work has on the international scene. We are leading the way in delivering quality focused youth work. My Department has been involved in a number of initiatives, such as the appointment of VEC youth officers to coordinate and support local youth provision, a national assessor of youth work in my Department, the new national quality standards framework for youth work and the national quality standards for volunteer led youth groups, which will be launched in January. We have set up a new group, the quality standards training and resource development task group, to harness the training and quality resources within the youth work sector to support implementation of the standards. The focus on quality and standards is extremely important in terms of the future of youth work. That is not to cast any doubt on what has happened to date but this is the correct direction in which to move.

We had a major international conference in Dublin Castle earlier this year to examine these issues. Senator van Turnhout raised a number of questions but I may not get to all of them. I will certainly correspond with the Senator in respect of the points she raised. We have provided ¤1.7 million for the development of new youth cafes. I recently announced that a further ¤2 million in capital funding would be made available to youth cafes and youth projects. To the end of 2012, some ¤500,000 has been provided for the development of a number of youth cafes that had applied for previous youth cafe funding schemes. Some ¤1.5 million will be provided in 2013 for youth cafes and youth projects. I will announce details of this early in the new year. We now have between 75 and 100 youth cafe facilities across the State and they are extremely beneficial to local communities and to young people in providing safe places to meet. It is important we continue to develop these initiatives. The Senator asked about the volunteer led local youth provision, which is one of the bedrocks of the youth sector. It has a significant range and reach and is effective in reaching out to people. I said there would be a reduction in the scheme to which the Senator referred. It is a small but important scheme.

I refer to our Presidency of the European Council of Ministers with responsibility for youth. We will have the opportunity to focus on youth work and quality youth work provision in our Presidency. The themes chosen by Ireland relate to social inclusion and it will particularly examine the links between youth work and achieving the goals of Europe 2020. Given the situation outlined in respect of young people neither in employment, education nor training, it is important to have this focus during Presidency. We recently had a new EU strategy announced last week and we will be working to implement and focus on the area.

The timing of this debate is important given the ongoing discussions regarding the next round of the European social funding. I hope we can avail of this funding to support and fund targeted Irish youth initiatives over the coming years. It is important to name that and say that youth work must be part of the continuum funded by the European Social Fund. The work it does is very relevant to the goals of the fund and the whole Europe 2020 agenda. These key issues will be advanced during our Presidency and will be put forward to the Council of Ministers meeting in May. We have structured dialogue and the engagement of young people throughout Europe, which will culminate in a conference in Ireland in March. Some 200 people from around Europe will inform us of their engagement in the structured dialogue, which involves consulting and getting the views of young people. It is an important date in our diary for March in respect of young people and youth work sector in Ireland. I want to ensure the youth work sector in Ireland is very involved in the work we do during the Presidency. This includes the March conference and a roundtable discussion in June, which examines unemployment issues concerning young people. It is a high level, expert group. The debate is timely in the sense that we can consider some of the youth work issues that will emerge to inform the agenda during Presidency. We can make sure the suggestions that emerge will inform the work I will be doing during Presidency.

The Department is in the process of developing a children and youth strategy framework and we have consulted with 67,000 children and young people. We also had an online consultation with the stakeholders in the various sectors working with young people and children. Subsequent to the finalisation and publication of the strategy, work will commence on a discreet youth policy framework in 2013. We will certainly invite the youth work sector to contribute to that policy development. It will be very important. A number of guiding principles have been identified and the framework must be responsive, relevant and realistic. It must put the needs of children and young people at the centre of Government policy. As I have elaborated, it must focus on quality and outcomes. I look forward to further discussion on the framework as it emerges over the course of the year.

I would prefer if savings did not have to be made but I hope my contribution to the debate has shown clearly that my Department and I are matching savings with reforms in seeking to enhance quality and deliver efficiencies in Irish youth work provision against the backdrop of ongoing fiscal constraint. This is about ensuring value while improving outcomes for young people.

This is challenging and tough for the sector but I believe the sector wants to see the kind of reforms outlined. As we get economic growth, we can support the sector further. I hope I have been clear in acknowledging the centrality of youth work and the importance of youth work to our young people, particularly those in more marginalised and disadvantaged situations. Youth work has major relevance given the economic challenges and the situation facing so many young people. It is a challenging agenda but I ask Senators for their continuing support in developing and delivering the kind of services we have on the ground and in ensuring this item remains on the agenda.