Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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812. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the proposed review of the youth service grant scheme; the purpose and timetable for this review; if she will ensure consultation and engagement with the youth work sector throughout the process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18088/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services by the voluntary youth sector, to young people throughout the country. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people. The voluntary youth sector involves approximately 1,400 paid staff, including youth workers and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services, and communities throughout the country. I was pleased to provide an additional €5.5m in current funding for voluntary youth services in 2017.

These schemes include the Youth Service Grant Scheme under which funding is made available on an annual basis to thirty national and major regional youth organisations amounting to. In 2017, some €10.65m has been allocated under this scheme, a 5% increase over 2016. This funding is intended to ensure the emergence, promotion, growth and development of youth organisations with distinctive philosophies and programmes aimed at the social education of young people.

My Department is now seeking to modernise the scheme in order to enhance its accountability, transparency and outcome measurement. It is also seeking to determine how best to meet the ever evolving needs of young people.

As a first step, my Department hosted a meeting for all thirty organisations on 5th April. The meeting was held to ascertain their views on how the scheme had worked for them over the preceding years and how best the scheme could be reformed. I am advised that the meeting was a great success and that each of the organisations is now fully engaged in, and committed to the review. This will be the first of a number of planned collaborations with youth organisations and services, young people and other stake-holders.

I am committed to having progressed this review before the end of 2017.