Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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619. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding or support available to organisations which are required to provide child protection training to their members (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37390/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people by the voluntary youth sector. It is estimated that the voluntary youth services throughout the country involve approximately, 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country. In 2015, the overall allocation provided by my Department for the youth funding schemes was €49.930 million. I am pleased to tell the Deputy that Budget 2016 has provided an additional €1.1 million in current funding to my Department for the voluntary youth services.

All youth organisations in receipt of funding from my Department are required to implement Children First, the National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2011).

The organisation in question receives funding under the Youth Services Grant Scheme administered by my Department. In 2015, an allocation of €814,250 was provided to support the national organisation in the provision of services to young people throughout the country. The funding is provided to assist the organisation in its work to develop quality programmes that meet young people needs, to support local groups with governance and organisational arrangements and to train and develop its volunteers, including meeting its responsibilities under the Children First guidance.

In addition, my Department funds the Child Protection Programme, within the National Youth Council of Ireland. The Child Protection Programme works primarily with the voluntary youth work organisations to address the needs of the youth sector in implementing the Children Firstguidance. The programme provides child protection awareness programmes and training to the youth sector organisations for both staff and volunteers, including the organisation indicated in the Deputy’s question. Under the programme, a range of resources has been developed to assist youth services to comply with best practices in child protection and welfare.

My Department will continue to work closely with the youth services on the further development of these initiatives and in the context of the implementation of the proposed Children First legislation which is before the Oireachtas at present.