Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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440. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will consider including a town (details supplied) in County Kildare in a youth development programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30975/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Funding for the provision of youth services is administered on behalf of my Department by the Education and Training Boards, which allocate funding via applications to the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme. This scheme is aimed at young people between the ages of 10 and 24 who are, or are at risk of becoming, disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable. Targeted annual youth funding of €38.7m is allocated under the scheme.

Key to achieving the scheme's aims is the development of the Area Profile and Needs Assessment Tool. The purpose of this Tool is to allow each ETB to avail of quantitative and qualitative information to objectively identify the needs of young people within their functional area. This analysis leads to the development of a Service Requirement which is then used as the basis for discussion between ETBs and service providers in terms of service delivery to meet the needs of young people in the area.

The approach ensures that we can target supports to the young people most in need of intervention and that funding is allocated on the basis of evidenced need. There is no expectation that the youth services work beyond their available resources, but rather work with the young people identified by the ETB in order of priority, as set out in the Service Requirement.

The total value of the grant for youth services in County Kildare in 2020 is €246,705. Funded Youth Services based in Kildare are overseen by Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB) in respect of matters relating to grants and service provision.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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441. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of funding allocated to County Kildare for youth projects over each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30976/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The tables below sets out the funding allocated to County Kildare Youth projects, as well as funding to Kildare and Wicklow Education Training Board, for the years in question.

Funding to Youth Services in Kildare administered by Kildare & Wicklow ETB 2018 - 2020

In July 2020, the UBU – Your Space Your Place scheme was launched. This is a targeted youth funding scheme aimed at supporting young people between the ages of 10 and 24 who are at risk of becoming disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable. It replaces the Special Youth Funding (SPY), the Young Peoples Facilities Funding (Rounds 1 and 2) and Local Drug Task Force funding directed at young people. The launch of UBU – Your Space Your Place marked the culmination of five years preparation, consultation, design and implementation of the reform of youth funding in Ireland recommended in the Value for Money and Policy Review for Youth Programmes (2014).

A key tenet of the UBU – Your Space Your Place scheme is the production of evidence of local need. The scheme entails a robust process by which new services may enter the scheme and existing schemes may be augmented. In allocating funding under the scheme, each ETB carries out an Area Profile, Needs Assessment and Service requirement process. This process draws upon quantitative and qualitative information to objectively identify the needs of young people within the ETB’s functional area. This analysis leads to the development of a Service Requirement which is then used as the basis for discussion between ETBs and service providers in terms of service delivery to meet the needs of young people in the area. This approach ensures that we can target supports to the young people most in need of intervention and that funding is allocated on the basis of evidenced need.

In 2020, UBU funding for Kildare projects amounts to €246,705; a further €246,703 was allocated for the Targeted Youth Funding Scheme (TYFS), and €50,759 is provided for Youth Information Centres in the county.

Kildare & Wicklow ETB, who act on behalf of my Department in administering youth funding in that area, receive funding for Technical Assistance and Youth Work Functions (€190,000 in 2020). They administer the Local Youth Club Funding Scheme, the LBGTI+ funding scheme and the Covid 19 Small grants scheme (€158,500; €4,000 and €3,000 respectively in 2020). The Kildare & Wicklow ETB also administer the 2020 Capital funding scheme for the area which amounted to just over €20,000 in total.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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442. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if his Department has completed research (details supplied); the status of the research; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30977/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Since the publication of the material referred to by the Deputy, there have been significant changes to funding for youth services nationally. Since 1 July 2020, and following a reform process, targeted youth funding is provided under the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme. This is presented in the table below.

By way of background to these changes, in 2014, the Value for Money Policy Review of Youth Funding Programmes recommended that youth funding be provided in a single funding scheme. The reform process led to UBU Your Place Your Space, which was rolled out from 1 July 2020.