Written answers

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Youth Services

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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272. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she and her Department continue to support voluntary agencies such as youth organisations involved in providing support for children and young people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22625/17]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine 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 to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in youth services and communities throughout the country.

I am pleased to confirm that I have allocated an extra €5.5m in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2017. This will bring the total youth funding by my Department to €57.4m, an increase of 10% over last year's allocation. The additional funding is being used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people and to assist national youth organisations in their work to support local voluntary youth services.

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. 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.

The Local Youth Club Grant Scheme supports youth work activities at a local level. These grants are made available to all youth clubs and groups through the local Education and Training Boards. The scheme is open to some 1,600 youth groups and clubs, with an estimated 89,000 club members around the country. The scheme, which is open to new entrants, is advertised locally and applications for funding are invited by the Education and Training Boards from local groups in their respective areas. Each year, some 600 local youth clubs benefit from the scheme. In 2017, I have provided an additional 10% in funding to the scheme, bringing the total allocation to €1.1715.

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