Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 October 2021
318. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the efforts his Department continues to make with various youth organisations to encourage integration and observance of equality requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49015/21]
View answerThe Department funds the provision of universal and targeted youth services to young people, generally aged between 10 and 24, throughout the country. Between 2016 and 2021, the annual current youth funding allocation for youth services increased from €51.9m to €66.79m.
The largest youth funding scheme funded by my Department is the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme. As described in the National Youth Strategy, young people aged between 10 and 24 years old who are experiencing marginalisation or are disadvantaged or vulnerable are the primary target group for youth services funded by UBU Your Place Your Space.
The Department also provides funding support to equality, intercultural and integration programmes managed by the National Youth Council of Ireland, the purpose of which is to embed inclusion and diversity actions within the youth sector and to engage hard-to-reach young people.
DCEDIY has strong governance arrangements in place with 30 national youth organisations it funds, and with 16 Education and Training Boards which are the mid-level governance structure for most of Ireland's youth funding. Through these governance arrangements, DCEDIY can ensure national policy is implemented.
The suite of national equality strategies, overseen and coordinated by my Department, act as the central policy framework adopted by Government to address inequality across Irish society. The strategies include the Migrant Integration Strategy (MIS), the National Strategy for Women and Girls (NSWG), the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS), the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS), the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy, the National LGBTI+ Strategy for Youth, and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES).
The implementation of each equality strategy is overseen by a steering committee which draws together State and non-State actors to deliver a better quality of life for all, through targeted actions to promote social inclusion and improved access to public services. The Minister for CEDIY chairs the meetings of the committees charged with the monitoring and oversight of the strategies, with the exception of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy steering group which is chaired by the Minister of State for Disability, Deputy Anne Rabbitte T.D., and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities which is chaired by Fergus Finlay.
As some of these strategies near their conclusion, DCEDIY will work with stakeholders to examine what has been achieved over their term and how we can bring forth the next iterations of those strategies and ensure their effectiveness.
