Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps I will be able to take it up at some point and I would certainly like to do so. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is actively engaging with the providers of youth services in each of the relevant areas and the City of Dublin Youth Services Board, the entity responsible for the overall administration of services. She is obliged to find a 10% saving in her 2013 budget. If she had not undertaken this engagement, she would have been accused of being dictatorial and irresponsible. The implication of the Senator's contribution is that by carrying out this engagement, the Minister is somehow pitting one service against another. This was not the Minister's intention and it is not the outcome of the engagement. She is seeking to use the wisdom of the City of Dublin Youth Services Board and its experience in administering services across the city of Dublin to determine how exactly we will implement the required saving across the sector in a manner that minimises its impact on front-line services. Her engagement was important and will prove fruitful. It did not have any negative elements and its outcome will be available shortly. With the co-operation and collaboration of the City of Dublin Youth Services Board, we will succeed in minimising, as best we can, the negative impact of this saving in 2013.