Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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215. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the measures she and her Department have to address the crisis in recruitment and high staff turnover in qualified professionals across a range of disciplines in the community services sector due to salaries being frozen, and gaps of 20% with salaries available elsewhere; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22118/23]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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My Department provides grant funding to support a range of youth services which are delivered by voluntary youth organisations and carried out by both paid youth workers and volunteers.

My Department has no role in the setting of pay scales or other matters that belong properly to the individual employer. The youth workers and other staff involved in youth services are employed directly by the organisation in receipt of funding.

The grants are provided on an organisational and a 'provision of service' basis, in particular through the Youth Services Grant Scheme, Youth Information Centres Scheme and the targeted scheme UBU Your Place Your Space. Each grant recipient organisation received a 4% increase in their 2023 allocation under these schemes.