Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht fanacht le haghaidh na ceiste seo.

I raise an issue on behalf of Youth Work Ireland in Galway. The voluntary board of Youth Work Ireland Galway met on Wednesday, 27 February, and the directors were deeply shocked that the allocations from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs were being cut retrospectively by 10% to 1 January 2013. They had based their budgets on a 6.5% cut. Maintaining service provision on a cut of 6.5%, it was already proofing difficult for them to implement without funding raising, but the direct result was having a compounded effect.

In addition, they also want to find out the rationale for removing the administration of their funding from Youth Work Ireland national office to a local Dublin VEC organisation, the City of Dublin Youth Service Board. This, according to them, is the same organisation responsible for administering student grants through SUSI - we know what SUSI has got up to over the past couple of months. Throughout most of 2012, they were led to believe that if a transfer from Youth Work Ireland were to happen it would be to the local VEC, the Galway city or county VEC.

The impact of the 10% cut in funding in Youth Work Ireland Galway will be at least one addition to the dole queue, according to themselves. While one more unemployed person may not seem significant, the loss to the service would be the removal of supports to 12 voluntary youth clubs, 153 youth leaders, 464 young people as well as the only child protection awareness trainer in Youth Work Ireland Galway. The provision of youth club supports is core to the service Youth Work Ireland Galway gives and the Minister of State can imagine how strongly the board feels that it is no longer in a position to deliver this service. In addition, given the abolition of the redundancy rebate on 1 January 2013, it is a significant cost to a charitable organisation such as this. The Minister of State will understand their sense of frustration.

I note that, apparently, the cut of 10% had been known previously but it was not communicated to Youth Work Ireland Galway by the City of Dublin Youth Service Board. They want to know why this was not communicated previously. If, for example, the funding mechanism had transferred to a local VEC, the method of making cuts might have been quite different and might have been made in a manner more suitable to the type of work done by this important organisation.

Youth Work Ireland Galway is a voluntary organisation that works with young people in Galway city and county and has done so since the 1970s. It grew out of the youth club movement. We just had a debate on LGBT rights and I note that one of the organisations that Youth Work Ireland Galway supports is the shOUT! LGBT youth group. It also supports many other important youth groups.

It is a most important question. My party would like to see continued support for these youth groups. We would be concerned, not only that this cut been brought in a retrospective manner which makes it difficult for such organisations to budget but that there are also threats that perhaps more cuts are coming down the line. Perhaps the Minister of State can allay our fears here tonight and explain why this change has happened in such a manner.