Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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407. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 516 of 18 November 2025, the mechanisms that will support the delivery of actions 10 and 13 of the Opportunities for Youth framework; the process that will be used to determine the acquisition of new spaces for youth work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65794/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Opportunities for Youth: National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services is the strategic framework for the youth work sector, published in September 2024. The strategy aims to build awareness of youth services, strengthen youth services, and ensure that youth services remain accessible and of value to young people across Ireland.?The implementation of the strategy will be reported on via the Young Ireland governance structures. Both implementation, and the cooperation of all relevant actors, will be supported through a new National Youth Sector Reference Group as well as a group comprising representatives from departments and agencies that provide funding to or interact with the youth sector. Action 50 in the Education Plan for 2025 aims to establish these structures by the end of 2025.

My officials are drafting an implementation plan to support delivery of the actions contained in Opportunities for Youth. The plan will be published later this year, and engagement with organisations that are leading or involved in the delivery of the actions will take place in early course.

The implementation approach to actions 10 and 13 will also be informed by visits the department has carried out during 2025 to education and training boards (ETBs) and youth services across the country, during which valuable insights into youth spaces were gathered.