Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Taking ¤10 per month from a child is not much of a start in life. Let us be relevant. Every ¤10 taken from a child affects its future. That is a lot of money every month. We will have more problems with young people in the future if they do not have care at home. That is the relevance, as far as I am concerned.

The report itself is well prepared. I commend Senator van Turnhout on bringing it to the House so early. It was published very recently. Reports like this are normally left on shelves and do not get an airing, as this one is getting here. That is why it is important that the Minister is here.

Senator van Turnhout was chief commissioner of the Irish Girl Guides and I am sure she has continued that work. I was elected chairman of Macra na Tuaithe in the vocational school in Roscommon. It was my first election. I was very pleased with myself to get the job of chairman and it probably led to a political career. Youth work and youth organisations are very important. The National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, is a very important organisation and I concur with the views expressed in the foreword to the report by Ms Mary Cunningham, director of the NYCI.

The report has been prepared by an Irish consultancy organisation, Indecon. It was printed and designed in Ireland. The report, itself, provided work in this country. Indecon has done a great service by providing the report.

I commend the NYCI for commissioning a report of this nature. It is an independent report, which is why it has strength. It is the first national report on youth work. I concur with the point made by Ms Cunningham and I commend Mr. Alan W. Gray and Mr. William H. Batt, of Indecon, who prepared the report on behalf of the NYCI.

I also welcome representatives of the organisations who are here to hear this matter discussed in the House.

The National Youth Council of Ireland is a representative body of over 50 national voluntary youth organisations. Its members include Foróige, Youth Work Ireland, Scouting Ireland, Macra na Tuaithe, Irish Girl Guides and many more, including Ógra Fianna Fáil, Young Fine Gael and other political organisations. These organisations have a combined staff of 1,400 and 40,000 volunteers.