Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2015
171. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding funding for the development of youth facilities and a youth café for a location (details supplied) in County Kildare; if this funding has been awarded to date; if not, when it is planned to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6455/15]
View answerIn recent years capital funding has been made available to my Department for the development of youth café facilities. In 2013 a capital allocation of €1.5m was made available by my Department for the provision of new youth cafes. Pobal assisted my Department with the administration of the scheme. Some 95 applications were received and 30 proposals for new youth cafes around the country were approved for funding.
I am advised that an application was received in respect of a youth café in Monasterevin from Kildare Youth Services. However, the application was unsuccessful on this occasion as it did not achieve a sufficiently high score for inclusion in the final list of projects approved for funding. An application from County Kildare Youth Hub in Kildare Town was successful and has received a capital grant of €50,000 towards the cost of developing a new youth café facility. The group is working with Pobal to complete the youth café project.
My Department does not have available to it a capital fund for the development of new youth cafés in 2015.
Youth Cafés offer young people a safe, alcohol and drug free space, for recreation, non-formal learning and youth activities and they make an important contribution to facilities for young people at local level. The development of youth café facilities is a priority for my Department should further capital funding become available in future years.
