Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the rationale for removing the administration of funding from Youth Work Ireland National Office to the City of Dublin Youth Service Board; the amount of money that this will save in 2013 and subsequent years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15662/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In 2013, €36.358m will be distributed by my Department to 477 youth projects throughout the country. Up to 2012 the allocations were distributed to the youth projects through 39 administering agencies/bodies that held funding administration status. These include VECs, national youth organisations and 11 other bodies including some county councils. The City of Dublin Youth Service Board (CDYSB), a statutory board established in 1942, under the City of Dublin VEC, is one such body. The CDYSB, on behalf of CDVEC, has for several years, undertaken the administration of over 50 youth projects in the Dublin City area and has developed a strong track record in managing these payments.

My Department is seeking to streamline the tasks associated with the financial management of funding for projects to achieve greater transparency and efficiency in the administration of funding. For these reasons, from January 2013, it was decided to transfer the administration of the allocated funding for some 30 youth projects, involving six national organisations, including Youth Work Ireland, to CDYSB. The new administration process will be monitored during 2013 for efficiency and effectiveness for the Department and for the projects concerned. Discussions have taken place between officials of my Department and the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) on this issue and it is intended that further meetings will take place.

It is expected that the successful streamlining of the administration of the funding for the youth projects will deliver benefits in terms of saving on the administration costs incurred under the present arrangements and efficiencies for both the Department and projects themselves. It is not possible to identify such savings at this early stage of the process. All such efficiencies are important in a context where significant savings are being sought on the €51.423m funding provided in 2013 for youth programmes and youth projects and services throughout the country. Every effort is being made by my Department to ensure that, in the administration of the funding allocations in the present challenging budgetary situation, the focus is maintained on the provision of the front line services for young people.