Despite the Minister's best efforts the amount of funding allocated to youth services and sports clubs over the past three years has been a pittance in comparison to the capital needs of many areas. Most clubs received little or no national lottery capital grants while the Minister was redesigning the sports capital programme. Last year my constituency, which has a population of 80,000, was allocated approximately £300,000. At the same time ongoing research has highlighted high levels of disadvantage and various problems associated with young people in many deprived areas, especially in Dublin.
As a member of the Dublin Regional Authority and Dublin Employment Pact, there is a deep feeling that deprived areas in Dublin and other urban centres are increasingly sidelined and marginalised. There is growing anger among regional authority members in Dublin and the south-east region at the failure of the Government to recognise the grave needs of deprived areas in their regions, which were recently demoted in EU funding terms.
Eleven of the 12 most deprived areas in Ireland, with populations of up to 40,000, are located in Dublin. A house to house survey carried out six weeks ago in one parish in my constituency showed, for example, that almost 45% of household heads are unemployed. The 45,000 Dubliners who are on the live register are concentrated disproportionately in deprived areas. The almost inevitable result of the Government's failure to provide community, youth and sports facilities in areas of disadvantage is the growth in juvenile alienation and youth crimes, despite the pleasant words of the Minster for Justice, Equality and Law Reform earlier.
I highlighted the ongoing plague of joyriding on more than a dozen occasions in the House and it is no accident that this dangerous and vicious deviancy is so prevalent in localities which have been starved of Government support and attention. In addition, the battle against drug addiction is ongoing and it is also felt most severely in such localities as young people drop out of primary school or leave secondary school early. There is only rudimentary support for youth services and none for sports and community clubs and centres. Joyriding is prevalent in two parishes in my constituency. There has been a 20 year campaign for a dedicated youth building in one parish, which has gone unrecognised, while recently the other parish was left without a youth service for more than five months.
The deadline for receipt of applications under the new sports capital programme is next Friday and I hope the Minster will strongly assist local youth, sports and community groups with capital funding. Funding of between £2.5 and £3 million has been applied for by groups in my constituency. The Minister must fight in the new Programme for Prosperity and Fairness or the Finance Bill for a budget of at least £50 million to provide support for youth and sports clubs. There is no point in the Minister allocating £10 million because that will not be enough. In addition, endless drudgery is experienced by local sports, youth and community groups in the form of ongoing fundraising and the Minister should address that, possibly in the context of the social economy. Jobs could be provided to support sports and youth clubs.
I welcome the proposals for the national stadium and sports campus and the centre of excellence, which will be a showpiece for our international athletes. The funding for it, which totals £300 million, will be totally misplaced if we do not provide for local community and sports facilities. Would it not be ludicrous if in a few years this impressive national complex was to open a few miles from my home while at the same time the young athletes of Coolock, Kilbarrack, Donaghmede and other districts in my constituency still had to change beside a ditch or in the dark, filthy shell of an old parks pavilion, with a similar scenario applying around the country?
Approximately £200 million will be provided for disadvantaged areas through PPF but it is critical that a large portion is spent in the youth and sports field. The Department should urgently prepare an audit of the funding needed, especially in the deprived areas of Dublin, so that the Government can honestly say that it has made provision for the youth and sports needs of our disadvantaged children.
