Vol. 548 No. 2
446 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the contents of the White Paper on supporting voluntary activity, in particular appendix three, page 113, paragraph one; if his Department will make pension provision for youth workers in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4568/02]
I am aware of the White Paper on supporting voluntary activity. Indeed, officials from my Department contributed to and fed into the White Paper on an ongoing basis. The youth affairs section of my Department provides grant- in-aid funding for youth organisations. This funding is towards the costs associated with providing programmes and services. The expenditure of these grants is at the discretion of the individual youth organisation. However, I have taken cognisance of the national wage agreements, hence the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness awards have been applied each year to these grants. The youth affairs section of my Department is not responsible for setting salary scales nor is it involved in the provision of pensions. However, most youth organisations operate pension plans for their permanent employees towards which grant-in-aid allocated by the youth affairs section is expended.
