Vol. 492 No. 7
379 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason the original allocation for the youth affairs section of his Department was insufficient in view of his admission that a Supplementary Estimate is needed for this section. [15244/98]
Financial support made available by my Department to voluntary organisations in the youth sector is in the form of grant-in-aid towards the overall costs incurred. The overall level of resources made available for the provision of youth work services in 1998 is £13,567,000 which represents an increase of 1.7 per cent over the provision for 1997. Unfortunately, due to the high level of ongoing commitments, it has not been possible in the current year to provide for increases in the level of grant aid made available to individual organisations and initiatives. However, additional funding for 1998 is being sought and in the event of such funding becoming available the level of funding support to youth organisations generally will be reviewed.
