Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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177. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the breakdown of the overall €66.8 million funding allocation for youth work provision in 2021 according to each scheme (details supplied) in tabular form. [30094/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is allocated €66.8 million in funding to support the provision of youth services nationwide. This funding was maintained fully during Covid-19 restrictions and has enabled the youth sector to continue to provide supports to young people, particularly to marginalised, disadvantaged and vulnerable young people.

All youth funding programmes received an increased allocation in 2021 arising from the additional €5 million in Budget 2021 for youth services. The breakdown of my Department's funding for the youth sector is provided below for the Deputy. 

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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178. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated number of beneficiaries supported by the UBU youth work scheme in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30095/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Following a reform process, the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme was launched in December 2019 and became fully operational on 1 July 2020. At the time of becoming fully operational, 252 organisations had successfully applied for funding under the scheme. 

My Department currently allocates targeted youth funding of €41.8 million via the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme. The mission of the scheme is to provide out-of-school supports to marginalised, disadvantaged or vulnerable young people in their communities to enable them to overcome adverse circumstances and achieve their full potential.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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179. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated number of beneficiaries supported by the youth service grant services scheme in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30096/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Each year, my Department funds National Youth Organisations to provide universally focused, volunteer led, youth work through the Youth Service Grant Scheme. The funding ensures the continued promotion, growth and development of these organisations in the provision of universal and targeted services for young people. I believe that the youth work carried out by these groups is transformative for young people.

In 2019, my Department provided €11.1 million in Youth Service Grant Scheme funding. 30 National Youth Organisations benefited under this Scheme. I have provided further details of this funding in tabular form for the Deputy. 

National Youth Organisations will benefit from over €12 million in funding under this Scheme in 2021. This represents a 6% increase over the funding provided in 2020 and a 9% increase overall since 2019.

Youth Services Grant Scheme

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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180. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated number of beneficiaries supported by the local youth club grant scheme in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30097/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Local Youth Club Grant Scheme (LYCGS), supports youth work activities at a local level by providing small grants to youth clubs and groups. The Scheme is intended to support the operation of volunteer-led youth projects. In 2019, €1.9 million in funding was made available under the LYCGS, and 1,312 youth clubs or groups availed of this funding. Some 78,960 young people nationwide benefited from LYCGS funding in 2019. The grants were made available to the youth clubs and groups through their local Education and Training Boards (ETBs).

My Department allocates almost €67 million to support the provision of youth services nationwide. This funding has been maintained throughout the recent challenging period and this has enabled the youth sector to continue to provide supports to young people, particularly to marginalised, disadvantaged and vulnerable young people. In recent years, funding for the provision of youth services has increased on an annual basis. Between 2016 and 2020 the annual current youth funding available to my Department increased from €51.9m to €61.79. Additionally, last year I secured a €5 million increase in funding for youth services, including an increase of 7% for the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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181. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of the implementation and allocation of the Youth Climate Justice Fund in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30098/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I launched the Youth Climate Justice Fund 2021 in March this year and I invited applications from eligible youth organisations. The purpose of this Fund is to support youth-led action on climate justice at community, regional and national level.

A Selection Committee comprised of representatives from my Department, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, and a young person from the Comhairle na nÓg network reviewed the applications received and met to discuss and agree recommendations to me.

I was delighted to see the standard of the applications and the interest from the sector. Organisations to be allocated funding are being notified this week.