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Youth Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 November 2018

Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Ceisteanna (5)

Maureen O'Sullivan

Ceist:

5. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the way in which voluntary youth work can be supported in view of the considerable demands on voluntary boards and volunteering. [45787/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

I ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the way in which voluntary youth work can be supported in view of the considerable demands on voluntary boards and volunteering.

I pay tribute to the fine work of the many thousands of volunteers within the youth work system. The contribution of volunteers to youth services, projects and clubs is very significant and their commitment is crucial to the strong and diverse youth infrastructure which has been developed across the country. In recognition of the contribution volunteers make for young people, I announced a 13% increase in funding for the local youth club grants scheme in 2018, bringing the overall funding allocation to €1.79 million.  The additional funding will result in a greater volume of volunteer-led youth activities over the course of 2018. In addition, last year I announced the local youth club equipment scheme, under which €6.35 million was made available to volunteer-led clubs and groups that worked with young people in communities throughout the country.  The scheme enabled these volunteer-led clubs to purchase equipment for sports, arts, adventure and other much needed items.

In addition to this funding, my Department provides annual funding for the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, the representative body for voluntary youth organisations in Ireland.  The NYCI supports the interests of volunteering youth organisations and provides an online resource for anyone interested in volunteering in youth work.  This online resource brings together useful information on volunteering opportunities, advice and downloadable resources such as a national induction training programme and details of the NYCI policy on volunteering to assist youth work organisations in the recruitment and retention of volunteers.

I am conscious that owing to their size smaller youth organisations can find it difficult to meet compliance and administrative requirements. With this in mind, my Department is engaged in a process to provide funding for the NYCI to enable the recruitment of a suitable provider to offer professional assistance to smaller voluntary youth organisations. It is intended that the chosen provider will offer a shared service to support the organisations in meeting their compliance, legal and regulatory duties.

I have asked the question to highlight the tremendous work done over many years by volunteers in the real meaning of the word, for which they are not remunerated. They are, however, finding it very difficult and it could come to the point where we will have no voluntary boards of management, no voluntary directors and no volunteers in the youth service. As there are 600 volunteers in Dublin alone, we should reflect on what would happen if a significant number felt they were no longer welcome, or that what they were contributing was being undermined. The one-size-fits-all approach makes it difficult. I agree with good governance, transparency and accountability, but there is no allowance for the difference between the directors who are really voluntary and those who are being remunerated. There is so much administrative work to be done that one has to ask if the quality of youth working has improved as a result. The most vital component is the relationship between a young person and a youth worker. I do not dispute the need for rules and regulations, but we need to look at this issue because we are in danger of losing many volunteers.

I always welcome the Deputy's passion for these issues, her commitment and the experience she brings. I acknowledge everything she has said about the contributions of volunteers and the additional burdens they face, some of which I understand are being addressed by my Department and the National Youth Council of Ireland. My Department met representatives of smaller national youth organisations at the end of August, with the aim of agreeing to a sustainable long-term approach to assist in reducing the impact on small youth organisations of the compliance and associated administrative burden. They identified possible solutions and came up with prioritised shared services, shared systems and a provider to support them in meeting their administrative requirements. We listened to them and are putting in place what they recommended.

There are a lot of requirements in the supervision of volunteers in the City of Dublin Youth Service Board, while some volunteers have to complete the Tusla online safeguarding programme. Some older people do not have the IT skills to do this and some of the retraining courses are being offered at times that do not suit volunteers because they work on a full-time basis. Some may feel insulted that after many years of volunteering they now have to be Garda vetted.

For example, I have some 40 years behind me of volunteering with a youth service. If I was to go back and offer the service one night per week I would have to be Garda vetted. Another example is a youth service whose buses are now under Tusla, but Tusla is saying that it does not recommend using volunteers even though the service has been using volunteers with clean driving licences for many years. The alternative is that the youth service now must train some of its own workers, at a lot of expense, to be drivers and to have the D licence. I agree with the paid youth service conditions of employment but the volunteer is the person who can give the hours late at night, who can work weekends and holidays. They are not looking for overtime and they are not looking for time off work.

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan. While I appreciate the concerns the Deputy brings with regard to the volunteers on whose behalf she speaks, and while I understand what the Deputy is saying, the example given is the person who has years of experience in volunteer work. Am I correct in hearing that even as we move towards having a system for the safety of young people and children of which Garda vetting is part that we should just suspend the vetting requirement for people who have been in the field for a while? I do not believe that is what the Deputy is saying, but I appreciate the additional burden it may require. I also hear the number of other issues raised by the Deputy. There have been meetings with my Department and with smaller organisations to try to take account of the concerns of some of the volunteers. I understand that there is another meeting of these organisations on 12 November. I will ask them to pay attention to the issues raised by the Deputy and to ensure they are taken into account in that meeting in moving forward.

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