My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country. In 2016, funding of €51m has been provided to my Department for these schemes.
My Department provides funding to 21 projects under the Local Drug Task Force Scheme amounting to €1.18m. The projects provide a range of supports for young people by way of targeted drug prevention and awareness. This funding is administered by the network of Education and Training Boards.
Information about the number of youth workers employed in the network of Local Drugs Taskforces, nationally, is not readily available to my Department.