Vol. 354 No. 6
I move:
That Dáil Éireann takes note of the Final Report of the National Youth Policy Committee which was laid before the House on 10th October, 1984.
Before starting my speech I should like to welcome Deputy F. Fahey to the Opposition front bench for what I think will be his first contribution as a shadow Minister. I wish him every success in that role, but not too much success of course.
Every success.
There must be some limitation on what I can reasonably be expected to hope for. It is a considerable pleasure and a considerable source of pride to me as Minister of State to propose to the House that it should take note of what I regard as a major, historic document, the Final Report of the National Youth Policy Committee published last month. I want to express my appreciation and record the Government's gratitude to the chairman of that committee, Mr. Justice Declan Costello of the High Court, the rapporteur, Tadgh Ó Cearbhaill, and the other members of the committee, who laboured long and hard. Members on all sides of the House will accept that an outstandingly good report has been produced within a year of the establishment of that committee in September 1983. Such expedition could usefully be copied in other areas.
At this stage it might be helpful to glance back at some of the reasons which prompted the Government to establish the National Youth Policy Committee and some of the reasons which prompted them to give the committee such extensive terms of reference. The need to support and develop our youth services is not an issue of any contention or controversy on the part of any Deputy. It must be acknowledged that Governments of different persuasions, since the seventies, have contributed to the support of voluntary youth organisations and the services they provide. That acknowledged, that conceded, it has to be said that there has been no attempt to place the youth services in context either as to the established needs of young people or the place of such youth services in the overall Government provision of services more generally. It was against that background of calls by the National Youth Council and other bodies for such an exercise that this initiative was launched.
The National Youth Council and other youth organisations had been concerned to see emerging an overall youth policy within which they as voluntary youth organisations would find a secure place, and a valued place. Prior to taking office the parties making up this Government made a commitment to the youth organisations to adopt a national youth policy. In pursuance of that commitment, back in September 1983 the Taoiseach established what has now become popularly known as the Costello committee. He did so with the very extensive and wide ranging terms of reference which are to be found in chapter 2 of the report. In accordance with the terms of that commitment and before the committee got down to business, I published a short discussion paper entitled Shaping the Future, of which some 5,000 copies were distributed, with the intention of aiding the committee in their work, raising issues and focussing discussion.
The very personal involvement of the Taoiseach at all stages of this exercise, his involvement in the launching and in receiving the report shows very clearly that this Government afford the highest priority to identifying and then meeting the needs of our young people. Now, there must have been some scepticism at the news of another committee, because Governments of all political persuasions——
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, would it be possible for the Minister to supply a script?
I am not using a script. I have notes which I should be happy to extend to the Deputy, but I am departing very substantailly from them in various sections. I may have been about to comment on a matter which might have been what stung Deputy Treacy to action — that is that Governments of different persuasions in the past have not been above establishing committees to talk away a committee. I thought that he was going to suggest that there are some of us in the House who are free of such a charge but, of course, I would not make any such claims.
I am not making that claim, either.
All of us should be happy that that has not happened in this instance. The evidence of that is there because of the expedition with which the committee approached their task and because the Government have not been sitting back waiting for the report.
Our first year in office, 1983, was a year of major departure for the youth services. Deputies will recall the controversy that then abounded in relation to the development officers scheme. Those officers, 54 of whom worked with the youth organisations, were, after much trial and tribulation, at long last made permanent and the grant-in-aid in support of their employment was increased from £5,000 to £7,000. Deputies thinking back will recall that the provision for the youth service which we inherited at that time, which showed an inadequate increase of only 1 per cent, was immediately redressed and an additional allocation of some £550,000 was provided in order to ensure the development and expansion of the work of the various voluntary youth organisations. In that context — as the funds being made available were growing and, as I earlier acknowledged, were growing under Governments of all persuasions — it seems to be important to put on a proper and formal basis an established set of criteria to govern the system of grant-in-aid for voluntary youth organisations.
I have already commented that until then the situation, rather like the relationship between law and equity, was that the criteria to be applied in allocating grants to different youth organisations varied with the length of the larger toe of the Minister of State of the day. It is important that there should be published criteria that have been negotiated with the youth organisations, which they have had a hand in shaping and against which people can judge how they are being treated.
Youth organisations can take comfort from the fact that their developmental activities have been positively supported. The most basic figure, something like £1,400,000 was provided for youth organisations back in 1982. This year it amounts to something just on £2.1 million. That represents an increase in two years of just on 50 per cent. Equally significant is the fact that the allocation for this year contains a provision, admittedly small, of £150,000 in order to support youth groups at local level who are working with particularly disadvantaged young people. That is an initiative which I was very happy to be able to introduce last year.
In giving that historal resume, I do so not because of any desire for political self gratification or anything of that sort. I do so simply in order to inform the House of the context in which the Costello committee were launched. It cannot be disputed that youth organisations would not have been able to contemplate such a report, or to participate or respond, had it not been for the action taken to build up their financial security and to make permanent their staff resources. Had it not been for those decisions, it is inconceivable that the committee would have been able to define so clearly the role they were going to seek for special youth services as part of an enlarged national youth service. That just would not have been on, had it not been possible to identify and to support individual local projects for disadvantaged young people over the last couple of years.
Against the background of action over the last couple of years, we are in a position to stand back, consider and respond to the major recommendations of the Costello report. Most importantly, we are able to do that with the support and goodwill of all those who are most closely involved in working with young people. Again, and in line with the spirit of the report of the committee, we have continued and developed the consultation process, pursuant to our commitment to a response to young people as a social partner. Only this week the Taoiseach, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Labour and I met with the representatives of the National Youth Council to review with them the range of Government policies that affect young people. In accordance with our commitment on entering office, too, we have taken a policy decision to see to it that the voice of young people is heard where it counts. Young people have been appointed by this Government to the board of the Youth Employment Agency and to play a role in relation to An Bord Pleanála, to prison visiting committees and very many others, the most striking of which perhaps is the National Economic and Social Council, on which two representatives nominated by the National Youth Council now sit — and that on a much reduced body.
That is the background. The House will accept, I think, that the timing is opportune for this discussion, coming as it does on the very eve of National Youth Year. It is appropriate that at such a time this first debate in Dáil Éireann on youth policy should take place. In examining the report, one of the first things which Deputies will have noted was that on the very cover — the logo for International Youth Year and its explanation and relevance to the themes of that year — participation, development and peace.
In undertaking this major policy exercise, we were concerned that it should be seen as part of our preparations for International Youth Year, although, of course, that has not been the extent of our concern or of our interest. I have also established a national committee to prepare for an organised International Youth Year and am happy to say that even at this stage we can look forward to quite a wide ranging series of activities at local, regional and national level.
We can look forward to next year on the basis that the Costello report has laid the foundation for real and solid advance during that very important year. I am sure that we do not simply engage in isolated, temporary and, indeed, perhaps cynical once-off gestures. I was anxious that the House would have an opportunity at an early date after publication, to debate this report. I wanted to have the benefit of the views of Deputies before I would come to submit to Government a statement on national youth policy for approval, which would, of course, be based on the report. As members of the House will be aware, immediately on receipt of the report the Government arranged for its publication, which took place on 11 October. At the official publication, I requested that any views, observations or comments of interested parties should be forwarded to my Department as soon as possible. I am glad to say that we are receiving in some numbers the considered views of youth organisations, State bodies, Government Departments and others. We will shortly be in a position to formulate the Government's considered response. The House already knows something of the parameters because it will be recalled that in the national plan Building on Reality the Government asserted their commitment and determination to deliver during International Youth Year. On pages 109 and 110 of the national plan it is stated:
...... a national youth policy which will have its own distinct purposes but would interact with other policies and measures. The policy will be aimed at assisting more young people to become self-reliant, responsible and active participants in society. It will include:
a clear philosophy of youth development and a statement of principles to guide Government policies; an objective assessment of the factual position of young people in contemporary Ireland;
a detailed plan for the provision of services to young people generally and disadvantaged young people in particular; provision for the participation and involvement of young people in an active way at all levels in Irish society.
What financial commitment is there?
In advance of publication and in advance of an opportunity to consider the report, the Government set aside an additional sum of £1½ million. The Deputy's question was not inappropriate in those circumstances. It is proper that the Government should have so anticipated the findings of the report. By making cash available they have allowed us to facilitate planning on a response to the priorities identified in the report. That increase comes on top of an increase of almost 50 per cent in the youth service subhead in the Department of Labour. It was £1.497 million and it is now up to £2.222 million. I am prompted by Deputy Daly to remind the House that I will be spending an additional £3 million in capital support for community and youth facilities during the period of the national plan. Members will recall that it is some years since we have been in that happy position. This is the first injection of new money into this area since the early part of this decade.
Since the Government abolished it.
Deputies will accept that we have shown, in difficult financial circumstances, that we are prepared to put our money where our mouth is and have shown the priority we attach to youth needs as they are being met by voluntary youth organisations at local level.
The report is so comprehensive and all-embracing that, without doing a grave discourtesy to other Members who want to contribute, it would be impossible to analyse the individual recommendations at this stage. My comments have not had the benefit of the full range of detailed comments which I am awaiting from a number of interested organisations. I approach this debate on the basis of having an open mind on some of the major issues raised in the report. I see the report as being a landmark in the development of services to young people. It is charting the way towards a national youth service and providing an analysis of the position young people in society and the trends and prospects that face them over the next decade.
I referred to the initial statement made on publication of the national youth policy. On that occasion on behalf of the Government I accepted the recommendation that any youth policy must be guided by a clear philosophy on youth development and be based on a statement of principle which would govern the detailed implementation of the policy. In chapter 3 of the report the philosophy and principles expounded by the youth policy committee are articulated. I welcome the fact that the committee have chosen in that fashion to make explicit the policy which underlies their recommendation. The democratic philosophy and vision articulated there is a healthy and compelling one to which we will have to respond. The report spells out in the clearest way the importance of participation by young people in society and in that context it refers to the need for adequate social and political education.
Members of all parties will be aware that I have already announced that I am prepared to consider applications from registered political parties represented in Dáil Éireann for grant assistance towards the employment of an education officer whose specific remit will be that of political education. The intention is that such officers would be responsible for training programmes for young people within the youth movements of political parties and would be expected to demonstrate over a period tangible results in the form of increased participation at local level by young people in community affairs. I can report to the House that all political parties have expressed interest in that proposal and have responded to it. I am at present engaged in a series of discussions with their representatives.
I do not want to overstate the benefits that are likely to accrue from that initiative. I accept that, for the most part, political and social education will have to be undertaken in the schools through a reformed curriculum. I accept that will have to be supplemented by informal education which, for the most part, will be gained through youth organisations. That said, I am quite convinced of the need to strengthen our democratic political life through preparing and educating skilled and motivated young people to be involved at all levels. The report and in particular chapter 15 has made a worthwhile contribution to that.
The Curriculum and Examination Board are charged with the task of evolving a new curriculum. It is quite clear what the task is. The report puts it very clearly: the primary aim of the national policy must be to unleash the potential of young people and maximise for society as a whole the social capital that our huge youth population represents. In chapter 11 of the report it is recommended that any new youth service should primarily offer young people, on the basis of their voluntary involvement, developmental and educational experience which will equip them to play an active part in a democratic society as well as meeting their own developmental needs. That overall philosophical approach is at the core of the purpose of the youth service. I am confident that Deputies on all sides will concur with me and with the committee in that regard.
One area of the report which is of great importance is the preoccupation with the needs of disadvantaged young people. I refer again to the initial Government statement which stated that, as a matter of social justice, the Government believe that the needs and rights of disadvantaged young people require special measures in order to produce equality of opportunity. For that reason, it is very encouraging to see the report devote a whole section to the specific needs of the disadvantaged covering topics such as school attendance, neighbourhood youth projects, youth encounter projects, the issue of homeless young people, the question of substance abuse, young offenders and so on.
Some of these recommendations and areas of concern have been the subject of Government response in recent months. I give as two examples the question of substance in drug abuse and also the position of young travellers. No Deputy in this House, most particularly no Deputy from an urban area, can be unaware of the absolutely horrific problem of drug abuse and cannot but have been affected by all the attendant evils, so there is no need to elaborate on that. The House will be aware that the Government established in 1983 a task force of Ministers of State to evolve a comprehensive Government response, bringing together Ministers whose responsibility was in the area of law enforcement, treatment facilities, education and youth areas so that the response would cover all of those areas and would not pretend that this problem can be met by the activities of any one Government Department when quite clearly it cannot.
The National Youth Policy Committee met with the task force of Ministers of State in February 1984 and made known their views on substance abuse. Deputies will be aware of the way in which the Government responded in the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1984 which was introduced to the House and amended the provisions of the 1977 legislation in quite a number of respects, in order to aid the drive against criminals who push drugs and bring death, misery and hardship to our streets. I endorse the position taken by the report that properly developed youth services have a vital part to play in prevention. That fact was anticipated and recognised back in 1983 in the publication of the Government statement after the work of those committees.
In regard to the position of travellers, Deputies will be aware of the Government statement in July 1984 which set out a comprehensive programme to respond, involving the provision of accommodation and other services for travellers. As a matter of interest to the House, that response followed on the work of a number of Ministers of State who came together to look at the situation. What is said in the Costello Report must be considered, particularly the very eloquent case made there to ensure access for young travellers to youth and community services. There are a number of areas of concern in the report which have already been the subject of Government response: the Green Paper on the disabled, the community services orders legislation which becomes operative this week, and I do not propose to go into any great detail there at this stage.
One or two themes run right through the report to which I should address myself. One is the extraordinarily detailed portrait presented in the document of the position of young people in Irish society politically, socially, culturally and in terms of economics. I want to say something about the case stated for a comprehensive youth service. It is extraordinary that within such a short time, an almost impossible time limit, the committee were able to provide us with such an incisive profile of the place of young people in Irish society. They have provided us with a veritable mine of information in a very acceptable and readable way. In doing so they were aided by the market research which they conducted and in particular the opinion poll commissioned by them. We all will find ourselves in agreement with the statement of the Irish Independent last Tuesday which described the report in this area as presenting “a broad picture of the contemporary lifestyle of Irish youth”. If that is so, then this report is not addressed just to Government. Every agency active in Irish life needs to consider and respond, to consider in detail the negative and positive aspects of Irish life and Irish society and their perception by young people as identified in the report.
By way of example, all of our Churches need to consider reviewing their approach to young people in the light of that report. The evidence in the report suggested a very marked trend away from religious orthodoxy among young people. The opinion poll I have referred to came up with the remarkable fact that of a list of some 14 concepts that were put before young people and which they were asked to evaluate, only reuniting Ireland by violence ranked lower than religion in young people's priorities. If Church leaders are to find themselves a little concerned about some of the findings, there is little joy in it for all of us in this House because there is less comfort if anything in it for politicians than for anybody else. Of nine categories of adults listed, trade union officials, public officials and, I regret to say, particularly politicians emerge as the group in society perceived by young people as being least prepared to listen and least capable of understanding their views. We ignore that at our peril, at the risk of inflicting fatal injury on our whole political fabric and political life. That perception that emerges so clearly is reinforced by the research that was taking place into young people's political attitudes which reveals at the best apathy and at worst active disinterest. Only 1 per cent of young people in the 15 to 24 years age bracket survey belonged to a political group. Against that background that I have been putting forward the need for developing participation and for adequate political and social education must be recognised.
I have mentioned some immediate responses taken by me and the Government, but in this area the response of every Member of the House is required. This is addressed to us as individuals and to each of the parties in this House particularly and distinctively. There is a fund of goodwill there waiting to be tapped. The negative perception I have referred to must be seen in sharp contrast with the very positive interest displayed by young people in issues presented to them such as achieving more equal distribution of wealth, protection of the environment, peace, the Third World and so on, all in contrast with this very negative perception by young people of a political system as we know it. The fund of goodwill is there. It is important that we take the opportunities provided, and I hope that all of us in this House will respond.
I come to the core of the document, that is the recommendations that touch on the need for a comprehensive youth service. Chapters 10 to 12 of the report deal with this and they describe in the first instance the present range of services available to young people, define a proposed new youth service, assess youth service needs and then give a proposed new structure to expound. There has been a great deal of talk about the comprehensive youth service, but I am not sure that we stop often and ask ourselves exactly what we mean by that. It might be instructive if we did so. The committee were clear in their minds as to what they saw as being involved. They recommended that youth work services, which they define as the out of school education provided in the main by voluntary organisations, together with special services to youth, such as information and advice centres, youth encounter projects, work with disadvantaged youth and unattached youth, should be encompassed together in a new national youth service.
