Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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163. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the work that has been undertaken since youth work came under her remit. [39686/25]

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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290. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the work undertaken since youth work came under her remit. [40608/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 290 together.

Responsibility for Youth Affairs policy and operations transferred to my department on 1 May 2025. All operational funding and support measures have now transferred seamlessly for the 35 national organisations, 16 ETBs, and other related organisations such as Gaisce and Léargas.

Youth work and youth services provide immense opportunities for our young people to grow and develop. Since the transfer, I have worked with my officials to explore how we can enhance services and ensure greater alignment and complementarity between the formal and non-­formal education sectors.

In my department’s Education Plan, which I published in June, I have included a series of actions for completion this year.

These include: establishing a National Youth Sector Reference Group (NYSRG), incorporating strong mechanisms for young people to influence decision making; identifying gaps in the current service model, and establishing enhanced cross-departmental structures to better coordinate youth work across government.

I am pleased to have met with several of the major youth organisations, to discuss their priorities and understand the value of their work and the challenges they face. I have advised them that stakeholder input will inform the development of the implementation plan for Opportunities for Youth, the national strategy for youth work and related services, currently in development. A workforce strategy for the sector is also in development in my department.

I am particularly committed to tackling educational disadvantage and school attendance and believe that youth work and youth services can play a key role in supporting young people to succeed in all aspects of their lives.

I recently sought expressions of interests for ten new targeted youth worker-led UBU Your Place Your Space youth services, serving up to 1,000 young people, under the additional Budget 2025 allocation of €1.2 million. It is envisaged these services will commence the coming months.

My department launched the Holiday Meals Pilot Programme in June to support young people who may not have access to a hot meal when schools are closed. The pilot is running in a select number of UBU youth services this summer as part of the Government’s wider plan to end child poverty.