Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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182. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she continues to liaise with the various youth groups throughout the country focusing on their need in their particular environment; the degree to which she expects to be in a position to offer support to such groups in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25862/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department maintains close contact with the national youth organisations and I and officials from my Department meet formally with these organisations twice a year to share knowledge and information on developments in the youth sector. A separate meeting is held on that day with national organisations in receipt of targeted youth funding to keep them updated on the ongoing work on the Value for Money and Policy Review reforms.

Youth Officers of the Education and Training Boards provide an important support role to my Department in the co-ordination and administration of youth services at local level across the country. In order to keep my Department informed of their ongoing work, officials hold quarterly meetings attended by all Youth Officers from across the country. These meetings assist my Department in identifying service needs and emerging issues, particularly for vulnerable young people. The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department has set up a working group with five Youth Officers focussed on strategic planning for future capital funding for the youth sector.

My Department holds scheduled meetings with Youth Work Ireland twice a year in relation to the important work of this organisation. There is also ongoing active engagement between my Department and the youth constituency of the of the Better Outcomes Brighter Futures Advisory Council. A small number of national youth organisation representatives are members of this Council.

Officials from the Youth Affairs Unit are engaged with programmes run by the National Youth Council of Ireland, such as the Youth Arts Strategic Review and Plan Advisory Steering Group and the National Health Programme Strategic Planning Working Group, both of which receive funding from my Department.

Officials from my Department also meet with youth organisations on an individual basis when the need arises.

In 2018, €58.9 m has been allocated in current funding to support the provision of youth services, an increase of €1.5m on 2017. 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. Funding to staff led youth services has generally been targeted at areas of disadvantage and not in proportion to the youth population of a given area.

Future development and investment in youth services will be informed by the mapping exercise completed last year, which mapped youth service provision across the State. This mapping will assist the Department and the relevant ETB in developing a detailed social demographic profile in terms of both population numbers and deprivation levels. My Department is committed to working with ETBs to identify need and explore ways to address this need where it emerges.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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183. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she, her Department and-or bodies under her aegis continue to liaise with the various youth groups throughout County Kildare with a view to addressing issues of their concern; the degree to which she expects to be in a position to offer support to such groups in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25863/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Youth Officers of the Education and Training Boards, including Kildare Wicklow ETB, provide an important support role to my Department in the co-ordination and administration of youth services at local level across the country. In order to keep my Department informed of their ongoing work, officials hold quarterly meetings attended by all Youth Officers from across the country. These meetings assist my Department in identifying service needs and emerging issues, particularly for vulnerable young people. The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department has set up a working group with five Youth Officers focussed on strategic planning for future capital funding for the youth sector.

My Department also maintains close contact with the national youth organisations and I and officials from my Department meet formally with these organisations twice a year to share knowledge and information on developments in the youth sector.

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.

In 2018, €58.9 m has been allocated in current funding to support the provision of youth services. In 2018, a provisional allocation of €539,283 has been made for the projects and services under Kildare Youth Services, which operates under Youth Work Ireland. My Department provides funding to Kildare Youth Services under the Special Projects for Youth Scheme in respect of six local youth projects in Athy, Naas, Leixlip, Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare town and a Youth Information Centre in Naas.

In addition, I am pleased to approve the establishment the Capital Funding Scheme in 2018. The primary focus of this scheme will be to provide small to medium capital grants to qualifying youth projects which are in receipt of funding from DCYA. Some €2m has been made available nationally, and eligible youth projects in Kildare can make an application through Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board.