I am pleased to contribute to this Bill and I welcome it as important, timely and good. I congratulate the Minister for introducing it and his officials and anyone involved with it for working on it.
This is the International Year of the Volunteer and the volunteer is mentioned quite a number of times in this Bill. Sadly, however, people are now so busy working and so forth that it is getting harder and harder to attract volunteers, at every level, into voluntary organisations. Initially, therefore, I suggest to the Minister for State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Cullen, that we should have some way of recognising volunteers and the work they do in society. It is an idea we could discuss in this House, perhaps not now but at a later stage, even through this Bill. I do not know how we might to it but it is something worth discussing.
Volunteers work at all levels in sporting, youth and social organisations helping younger, older and needy people and so on. I call on the Government to do something to recognise the volunteer this year.
We have many awards systems, though I do not know if another award system is the way to proceed. I would like to see something that would encourage people to become volunteers. Perhaps there is some way to tease that out on this committee or in another forum. The Minister might establish a committee on volunteers and examine this area where we could encourage volunteers.
There is, for instance, the Gaisce award, which encourages young people to get involved and they get an award from the President at the end, the President's Award. That is excellent. I recognise the work volunteers are doing at all levels of our society, in all organisations, and as individuals as well.
I welcome this Bill but I am concerned, however, that in many areas young people are finding it difficult to socialise together outside school. The only place many young people can socialise is in the local hostelry, the public house. This is leading to an alcohol dominated culture among young people. If we are not careful we will build major problems for ourselves in years to come, problems associated with alcoholism, lack of physical fitness and the health problems that go with that.
There are also issues to do with building relationships at a young age and the public house is not the place to do it. Very often, the opportunity does not arise in school to do it either, even though many laudable attempts are made. Youth services, youth clubs and youth work provide this opportunity for young people to socialise and to get to know each other in a healthy, possibly supervised, atmosphere. This could also be a freer, looser atmosphere than is found in schools.
This is important. Youth organisations such as Foróige, for instance, formerly Macra na Tuaithe, have, through the years, done great work in that area. These youth organisations and youth clubs need places where young people can go to do youth work and to socialise. This is something that has to be addressed.
Youthwork is as important as the formal education area in schools and we should treat it with the same importance with which we treat formal education, as this is informal education. In the same way schools are provided for formal education, youth centres should be provided for this informal education. Perhaps many of our schools could double in function as many schools are closed from 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. I welcome the VEC involvement and we should incorporate some way that the facilities the schools have at the moment would be made available to the youth services in the evening and at night, as this is often when youth work is carried out.
There may be issues to do with insurance, pro tection of property in schools or the way classrooms are laid out and with school equipment, as schools are formal places and youthwork is informal. However, if a youngster has a choice between going into an old, draughty hall with poor furniture, no music and second-hand facilities and going into a lounge bar where there is music and entertainment it is easy to see which choice they will make and why, very often. Youth clubs and the youth service should be financed, resourced and assisted to provide youth centres in towns and cities.
Many speakers have spoken about the need for and importance of providing youth work for those who are deprived. That is important and it is vital that it is done. It is as important that youth work be provided for young people who are not deprived. Very often, we find that youngsters in towns and in the countryside who are relatively well off also have nowhere to go in the evening and at night to socialise and to learn informally from their colleagues. This should be an all-encompassing approach by the Department and by the people involved in setting up a proper youth service in Ireland. Not only those who are deprived but also those who are well off need youth work and youth services.
I welcome that the vocational education committees are involved because they have a great deal to offer. However, vocational education committees vary in size, from large to small. Some of them cover small towns whereas some, like the one in my county of Cork, cover a large area. It is a marvellous VEC but it covers a huge county. Perhaps we should examine the option of dividing up larger areas such as Cork because youth work is local as well as national.
I welcome the manner in which the Minister has structured this. Voluntary youth councils feed into youth work committees and there are also assessors and the Minister. However, like my colleague, Deputy Daly, I am concerned about too much bureaucracy and committees that are too large. Although it is important to involve as many people as possible, I urge caution. Committees that are too large are unwieldy and it can be difficult to get decisions made.
The voluntary youth councils are interesting and they will involve people at local level. The youth work committees are important and they mirror the ideas put forward by the home-school-community liaison programme whereby there would be an area network. This is a similar idea concerning youth work and it is already happening in many ways under the home-school-community liaison programme, so we must be careful to avoid duplication and having people do the same work under different headings.
Co-ordination is mentioned in the Bill and this must be co-ordinated across the board. I am aware the Garda, health boards and local public health nurses will be involved and will have an input and that is very important. I also note that young people will be involved and it is vital that they be involved in decision making as well.
The structure of youth organisations must be properly financed and we have the resources to do that now. I am sure we all agree that there is nothing more important in which to invest money. We must ensure the new structures are properly financed from day one. It is something we will watch carefully to ensure it is done and we will encourage that the money be provided at all levels.
In my area the Cloyne Youth Federation does excellent work. I recognise the work of volunteers. I welcome the Bill and look forward to the debate on Committee and Report Stages and to seeing the aspirations of the Bill being put into practice. As soon as the Bill is passed, I would like to see action and activity. I would like to see young people at all levels throughout the country becoming involved in informal education and development and socialising, learning and doing things together to provide them with an alternative to the pub culture which, sadly, is becoming dominant.
Although there is an overlap, I would like to see co-ordination between sporting organisations and the youth service. That is important because sporting organisations often link in with young people and do terrific work. I did not notice in the Bill that sporting organisations would have some link whereby they could make a contribution.
I welcome the inclusion of the link between formal education and the youth services which will be set up. That is a welcome development. I encourage a home-school-community liaison officer being appointed to all schools. If not, one should be shared between a cluster of schools. That person could provide the link between the youth work service and the school at both primary and secondary levels.
Another area on which we should focus and which is related to this area of youth work is Youthreach. It caters for youngsters who find the mainstream education system has failed them. They go to Youthreach and the outcome is often successful. I encourage the linking up of the youth service structure being established under the Bill and Youthreach. Youthreach must also be properly resourced and I am not convinced that is the case at present. I encourage the Government to ensure it is properly resourced and that the teachers, instructors and trainers in the scheme are catered for properly. My information is that they are often part-time and temporary.
Above all else in Youthreach, and the same applies to the youth services, we should ensure those working within it are properly qualified because youth work is a professional service. It is as important as teaching. One must have skills and a certain amount of experience and training to work with young people at this level. I know some people have a natural ability but in this area and this era when volunteers find it increasingly difficult to give up their time, we need professional youth workers in the major centres. We have professional teachers in schools and we should have professional workers driving this forward. These youth workers must be properly paid, trained and catered for with a career structure in place for them. I did not see that mentioned in the Bill. Perhaps I missed it, but I am sure it is implicit in the intention of the Bill.
The instructors, teachers and trainers must also be catered for and have a career structure and proper training. It is not good enough, although understandable, that one of these instructors, on obtaining a permanent job, leaves Youthreach to take up that position. Where does that leave the people they train in the scheme? It leaves them having to learn how to get on with a new instructor or trainer. Therefore, continuity is necessary and vital for both the youth services and Youthreach. If it is broken and lost because of movement of instructors and trainers, especially during the year, that is not the best position in which to find ourselves.
I welcome the fact that there will a national youth work advisory committee and that various Departments, such as Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Social, Community and Family Affairs, and so on, will be involved with it and will have an input to it. I am excited about this Bill because it is very good and has been well put together. It has brought together all the organisations, prescribed national youth organisations, voluntary groups, statutory agencies and so on, at different levels. Whoever put this together is to be commended.
Obviously, no matter what Bill is brought forward or who brings it forward, one side or the other will find that improvements can be made. This is such an important area, it will merit careful consideration on Committee Stage. I see that a great deal of work has already been done on the Bill. The Minister is putting a structure in place to ring-fence moneys for youth work by providing for a youth work budget, in respect of which, given the vital need for accountability, he is putting accounting procedures in place. There is, however, a lack of detail as to what the budget will cover. In this context, it is vital that provision is made for youth centres, the actual structures in which young people can congregate together. Will the youth work budget stretch to their provision? While there are youth centres in many cities, towns and villages, many are in need of massive funds and upgrading to make them attractive, comfortable and conducive to the work that needs to be done. What kind of programmes will the various committees put in place for young people? I assume they will also be funded from the youth work budget. It will be interesting to see what kind of programmes are put in place.
The inclusion of parents, whom I have not heard being mentioned, in the proposed structure should be looked at. It is possible that they have a role to play. Perhaps a way should be found to encourage them to become involved as volun teers in the youth service at local level. It is a criticism that they use sports and youth clubs as a babysitting service while they go off to the pub. I am sure we have all done this from time to time, but it would be useful if the incorporation of their views was provided for. It seems all other groups have been included in the proposed structure. I hope there is a role for parents to play.
I welcome the Bill and wish it a speedy passage through both Houses. I look forward to its implementation and seeing it in action. It is badly needed and should be properly funded.