Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

208. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide the details of the more than €180 million spent on youth services, of which there is a lack of evidence to show that it aided better outcomes for disadvantaged young persons; the action that will be taken to ensure that better quality data will be recorded; the further action that will be taken to ensure that any programme is based on evidence and best practice; if his Department will initiate a compliance structure with clear and measurable outcomes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5207/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department is responsible for the administration of funding for the provision of youth services. The funding schemes support the delivery of a range of universal and targeted youth work programmes and services for young people throughout the country, including those from disadvantaged communities. Three of these targeted funding schemes, the Special Projects for Youth scheme, the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund, and the Local Drug Task Force projects scheme, were the subject of a recently completed Value for Money and Policy Review.The review covered the period 2010 to 2012. In 2012, expenditure on the schemes amounted to €39.7m.

The review involved an in-depth scrutiny of a complex area to do with the impact youth service provision has in young people’s lives. Overall, the review found that the youth programmes can provide a significant contribution to improving outcomes for young people, and should be considered for ongoing public funding.

The review encountered problems with the availability of accessible data and administrative information deriving from the complexity of the historical development of the schemes and the governance arrangements under which they had been operated. It noted that it was not possible to secure robust evidence of improvement in young people’s lives, especially as these changes are subtle and can be hard to measure and-or to attribute to one intervention.

The review makes a number of recommendations for the future operation of the youth schemes and their development in the years ahead. It recommends that the three existing schemes be replaced with a single, targeted, evidence-based and outcomes-focused scheme designed to secure the optimal outcomes for young people and their communities.

The findings and recommendations of the review are being discussed by stakeholders in the consultations, which are under way at present, on the new proposed new National Youth Strategy. I intend that the reforms recommended in the review will be progressed in the context of the new Strategy. This work has been prioritised by my Department together with the development of the data management systems that will support good performance oversight of the youth programmes and provide assurance about efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of services for young people. A project team, comprising youth service providers, funding administrators and other youth experts is being established in my Department to oversee the development and introduction of the new scheme over 2015 and 2016.