Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2019
571. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the degree to which she has been able to respond to requests for financial or other assistance from an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43586/19]
View answerMy Department received correspondence from Kildare Youth Services on 9th July of this year. The reply, issued 23rd July, highlighted that my Department is currently managing the most significant reform of youth services ever undertaken, which is providing an opportunity to identify need and to focus funding on young people most in need of intervention.
The reply further explained that future development and investment in youth services will be informed by the mapping exercise completed in 2017, which mapped youth service provision across the State as well as an Area Profiling, Needs Assessment and Service Requirement tool which was designed in collaboration with the Education and Training Board (ETB) sector and was officially launched in January 2019. This mapping and tool is assisting the Department and ETBs to develop a detailed social demographic profile in terms of both population numbers and deprivation patterns.
The reply also explained that funding for the provision of youth services is administered on behalf of my Department by the sixteen Education and Training Boards (ETBs), and went on to stress that my Department is committed to working with ETBs to identify requirements in their area and facilitate decisions on service requirement by reference to evidenced need.
Finally, the response provided the contact details for Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB) and suggested that they might be contacted regarding the matters outlined in the correspondence.
