Róisín Shortall
Question:149 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will report on proposals for funding youth cafes; the funding available; and the basis on which it was allocated. [22140/10]
View answerWednesday, 26 May 2010
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As the Deputy will be aware, on 12 April last, I announced details of a dedicated youth café funding scheme of €1.5m from dormant accounts funds. This is the first dedicated youth café funding scheme in Ireland and was launched along with the publication of two relevant associated publications, Youth Cafe9s in Ireland: A best practice guide and Youth Cafe9 Toolkit: how to set up and run a youth cafe9 in Ireland. Both documents were prepared for my office by the Child and Family Research centre at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). These developments respond to the repeated emphasis young people have placed on the need for such recreational spaces. They recognise the achievements already made by many groups in establishing youth cafés around the country and ensure a solid policy foundation for youth café development and the expansion of safe quality recreational spaces for young people.
A total funding package of up to €1.5 million is available for small scale fit-out, refurbishment works or building enhancement projects to existing Youth Cafes and for the start up of new youth cafes. This scheme is being administered by Pobal on behalf of my Office through a closed call system via the nationwide network of city and county development boards (CDBs). This funding is once off in nature and the drawdown of funds from this scheme will take place over the present and next year (2011). The Youth Café model is based on a multi-agency approach and the County Development Board structure provides the natural fit for the assessment of local need, priorities and sustainability from multi-agency perspectives. The use of the CDB network in the application process will also enable direct local involvement in the initial prioritisation of applications. This will ensure that detailed local knowledge is taken into account in the short listing of applications for further consideration by POBAL.
As applications are still being accepted, no funds have been distributed as yet. The closing date for the submission of applications is Friday 11th June 2010. As I have already mentioned, applications must be processed through local City and County development boards. Full details of the operation of the scheme are available on www.pobal.ie I have asked my officials to forward further details of the Scheme to you in the next days.