Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 February 2018
279. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to increase capacity in the local intervention schemes to engage hard-to-reach young persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8041/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy 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 involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in youth services and communities throughout the country.
I am pleased to confirm that I have allocated an extra €1.5 million in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2018. This will bring the total youth funding spend by my Department to €58.95 million. The additional funding will be used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people and to assist national youth organisations in their work to support local voluntary youth services.
In 2017, an amount of €525,425 was allocated for the projects and services under Kildare Youth Services, which operates under Youth Work Ireland. My Department provides funding to Kildare Youth Services under the Special Projects for Youth Scheme in respect of six local youth projects in Athy, Naas, Leixlip, Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare town and a Youth Information Centre in Naas. My Department has commenced a process with national organisations and local services to identify service development needs for 2018 and in order to finalise the 2018 allocations.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides financial support towards the running costs of Family Resource Centres, FRCs, nationwide. There are currently two FRCs in County Kildare, Newbridge FRC and the Curragh FRC, which are in receipt of funding. Activities for young people in these centres include youth clubs, homework clubs, and summer camps. Tusla plans to expand the FRC Programme in 2018 and additional funding will also be provided to existing FRCs this year.
Tusla also operates the School Completion, SCP, Programme. Details of the programme and associated resources in County Kildare are set out in the following table. Any consideration of increased resources will be in line with Tusla's assessment of needs of these areas and available resources.
School Completion Programme
|
SCP Name |
SCP Funding Allocation 2017/18 |
No. schools in the SCP |
DEIS Status |
Total Enrolment for Schools in Cluster |
SCP Project Staff |
No. Priority Target Students |
No. Risk Target Students |
No. Students Universal Interventions |
|
Canals Cluster SCP (North Kildare |
€119,978.18 |
4 x Post-primary school |
All DEIS |
2,599 |
1 x SCP Coordinator 3 x Part-time Attendance Monitor 1 x Part-time Project Worker |
60 |
220 |
400 |
|
Newbridge SCP |
€183,935.91 |
1 x Post-primary 5 x Primary |
3 x DEIS 3 x non-DEIS |
2,393 |
I x SCP Coordinator 2 x Part-time Project Workers |
133 |
30 |
400 |
|
Curragh Kildare SCP |
€159,971.48 |
2 x Post-primary 3 x Primary |
4 x DEIS 1 x non-DEIS |
2,216 |
I x SCP Coordinator 2 x Part-time Project Workers |
80 |
110 |
214 |
|
Athy SCP |
€127,529.61 |
1 x Post-primary 2 x Primary |
All DEIS |
1,612 |
1 x SCP Coordinator 2 x Part-time Project Workers |
75 |
342 |
417 |
