Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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30. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which her Department supports youth organisations with a view to ensuring a supportive backdrop and preparation for adulthood throughout the upcoming generation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38006/18]

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.

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 €1.5m in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2018. This will bring the total youth funding by my Department to €58.9m. The additional funding is being used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people.

These funding 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 2018, some €10.65m has been allocated under this scheme.

The funding provided under this scheme 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 goal of the youth organisations in receipt of this funding is to empower all young people to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to realise their full potential and to actively participate in an inclusive society.

My Department provides leadership at a national level in implementing the National Youth Strategy 2015-2020 and ensuring the national policy is connected to local implementation. The strategy is based on the understanding of youth as a distinctive period of development between childhood and adulthood. It takes account of the social and economic factors that influence young people during this period, and the important roles of parents, families, friends and other adults and communities play in their lives.

The strategy sets out how stakeholders, including youth organisations, can work together to impact positively on the lives of young people and the funding provided under the Youth Service Grant Scheme assists with the implementation of these objectives.

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 2018, I have provided an additional 13% in funding to the scheme, bringing the total allocation to €1.79m.