Vol. 536 No. 5
337 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he has replied to a submission made by Carlow Regional Youth Service; and if financial or other assistance can be given to this organisation. [14764/01]
I recently met representatives from Carlow Regional Youth Service to discuss their proposal for a central youth facility for Carlow town, in the context of the young people's facilities and services fund, YPFSF, which is the main prevention component in the Government's national drugs strategy. The development group for the YPFSF in Carlow, which includes representation from the Carlow Regional Youth Service, had made a submission to the national assessment committee, NAC, of the YPFSF in late 2000 for the development of a central youth facility for the town and for advice on how best to progress the project. It was informed at that time that no additional funding would be available from the YPFSF outside of its existing allocation prior to the commencement of round II of the fund in 2002.
In this context, the development group made a further submission to the NAC in April 2001 for a change of use of some of its existing funding in order to facilitate the development of the necessary plans to secure planning permission for its proposed youth facility. After a meeting between a delegation from the development group and representatives of the NAC on 15 May, this proposal was approved at the most recent meeting of the NAC and that decision was communicated to the Carlow development group.
