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.
Funding is provided by my Department for the provision of youth services. The recruitment, employment and deployment of staff including youth workers are matters for the youth organisations and services themselves. Information about the number of youth workers employed by youth organisations and services by county is not readily available to my Department.