Ireland has been a participant country in the EU Youth in Action Programme 2007-2013 and the Programmes for young people that preceded it; the Youth Programme (2000 -2007), Youth for Europe and European Voluntary Service. My Department is the National Authority for the Youth in Action Programme in Ireland. The National Agency appointed to administer this Programme in Ireland is Léargas — the Exchange Bureau.
There are five general objectives associated with the Youth in Action Programme, namely that it:
Promotes young people's active citizenship in general and their European citizenship in particular;
Develops solidarity and promotes tolerance among young people, in particular in order to reinforce social cohesion in the EU;
Fosters mutual understanding between young people in different countries;
Contributes to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organisations in the youth field;
Promotes European cooperation in the youth field.
Since 2007 there have been 692 projects and 10,071 young people and youth leaders have participated in the various actions of the Programme. The overall funding to Ireland was €9,742,241.
In 2012 the funding allocated to Ireland for projects has increased from €2.04 million in 2011 to €2.53 million.
An independent Interim Evaluation of the Programme carried out in 2010 found that the Programme is operating successfully in Ireland and is delivering the intending impacts for young participants, youth workers and organisations for young people.