Vol. 450 No. 4
12 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Education the resources, if any, being allocated to youth services in 1995; if the funding will be adequate to bring about improvements in this sector; and the new initiatives, if any, which will be undertaken in 1995. [5255/95]
The total alocation to my Department for youth services for 1995 is £12.615 million which is an increase of 3.8 per cent on the 1994 allocation of £12.151 million.
A number of individual applications relating to new initiatives have been made to the Department under the youth services grant scheme and the special scheme for disadvantaged projects. These are being examined at present in the context of the available resources for 1995.
Pending the outcome of this examination, which will be completed in the next few weeks I am not in a position to say what new initiatives it may be possible to introduce for youth services in 1995.
However, I am fully satisfied that the allocation of £12.615 million will be sufficient to maintain the youth services at satisfactory levels for 1995.
What is the breakdown of funding between national lottery sources and the Exchequer?
The total allocation is £12.615 million, of which £53,000 will be funded by the Exchequer. The total allocation last year was £12.151 million, £12.012 million was funded from the national lottery and £139,000 from the Exchequer, including a sum of £87,000 provided out of a global Department of Finance vote to meet the pay commitments of the Department.
Has the Minister made provision to ensure that the youth services are in position to draw down the maximum benefits from the Youth for Europe III Programme? When does he expect those schemes to be in operation?
I will consider a number of initiatives this year. For example, I will consider the long outstanding appointment of an assessor-adviser to the youth affairs section — interviews for which are in progress — and the appointment of a full-time permanent national coordinator for youth information, to which it should also be possible to appoint an assistant. I will also consider a new project for the disadvantaged in Listowel. All those projects have been approved by the Department of Finance and are in addition to those announced by my predecessor in the latter part of last year.
He is concerned about north Cork all the time.
Measures against racism and anti-Semitism were major initiatives by my predecessor at the end of last year.
Is there provision within the present allocation for the development of capital facilities for the youth services?
Many of the grants given to voluntary groups go towards the capital costs of those projects. I can give the Deputy a breakdown of the individual projects at a later stage if he so wishes.
