Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has any funding scheme in place for the provision of youth cafes in communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31547/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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A total of €1.7m has been allocated by my Department to support the provision of youth cafés, to date.

The first tranche of funding was provided over 2010-11 under a dedicated competitive scheme operated for my Department by Pobal. As a result of that scheme a total of €1.5m was allocated for a specific measure to support the provision of Youth Café facilities in Ireland and a total of 64 projects were approved for funding in two strands. Strand 1 provided larger scale funding for the establishment of 16 brand new youth café facilities, which have been gradually coming on stream. Strand 2 provided small-scale funding for upgrades to a further 48 existing youth cafés. An additional €200,000 was made available by my Department in December 2011 to support a further 18 youth projects in providing or maintaining youth cafés facilities.

My Department estimates that between 75-100 youth café facilities now operate across the State. These facilities are proving hugely beneficial to local communities in terms of broader engagement with young people. In addition, my Department supports a range of youth services and volunteer-led youth groups which offer similar resources and spaces for young people locally.

The distribution of the 2012 capital funding available for youth projects including youth cafés, is under consideration at present. I expect to announce plans for the distribution of this funding in the very near future.