Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 31 January 2013
78. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Education and Skills the circumstances in which his Department would establish a Youthreach project in an area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4926/13]
View answerThere are almost 6,000 Youthreach places available nationwide under the Youthreach umbrella funded by my Department. Almost 3,700 of these places are provided by Vocational Educational Committees (VECs) in just over 100 Youthreach centres. The majority of the remainder of places are provided by FÁS in some 30 Community Training Centres. The establishment of a Youthreach centre over and above the current provision would require the allocation of additional Youthreach places. The overall number of approved Youthreach places is set at its current level because there is a continuing requirement to plan and control numbers and to manage expenditure within the overall educational policy and provision. Any consideration of providing additional Youthreach places would have to take account of the present and prospective economic and budgetary context and related financial constraints. In addition, there would have to be evidence that there was sufficient demand in a particular area that could not be met from within existing resources or through existing further education and training provision.
