Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

334. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of funding for a project (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43540/15]

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

In recent years capital funding has been made available to my Department for the development of youth café facilities. In 2013 a capital allocation of €1.5m was made available by my Department for the provision of new youth cafes. Pobal assisted my Department with the administration of the scheme. Some 95 applications were received and 30 proposals for new youth cafes around the country were approved for funding.

I am advised that an application was received in respect of a youth café in Monasterevin from Kildare Youth Services. However, the application was unsuccessful on this occasion as it did not achieve a sufficiently high score for inclusion in the final list of projects approved for funding. An application from County Kildare Youth Hub in Kildare Town was successful and has received a capital grant of €50,000 towards the cost of developing a new youth café facility. The group is working with Pobal to complete the youth café project.

Youth Cafés offer young people a safe, alcohol and drug free space, for recreation, non-formal learning and youth activities and they make an important contribution to facilities for young people at local level. Recent research undertaken by my Department indicates that there are now more than 150 youth cafés throughout the country. In the main, these have been developed, over the years, by local communities with the support of different funding sources.

While additional capital funding of €2.25m has been provided to my Department in Budget 2016, this funding is allocated, in the main, for small scale capital works, such as re-fits and accessibility improvements in the voluntary youth services funded under schemes administered by my Department.

My Department does not have available to it in 2016 a capital fund for the development of new youth cafés. The development of youth café facilities is a priority for my Department should further capital funding become available for these purposes in future years.