2026-01-29

I am raising this issue on behalf of Ballyfermot Youth Service, which I visited recently. It has a fantastic facility in Ballyfermot. I am not sure if the Minister of State has ever been to Ballyfermot. It is an area of Dublin which has faced a lot of difficulties over many decades but there is a great sense of community in it, and that can really be seen in the skate park facility that has been built there. It is absolutely fantastic. Youth service staff lock it up every night and open it up every morning. There are staff members and youth workers there to make sure that young people who are doing what they do best in a skate park, living their best lives, are supported in whatever way they can be. The challenge faced by the youth service is that it is so successful that more and more young people are coming to the service every year. The service has been able to expand into many different areas, including having a fantastic outdoor pursuits programme under which it brings young people down to Wicklow. For anybody who grows up in the city centre, going somewhere outside where they can see the stars all night, where they can see cattle, trees and hedgerows, is very different. To have that facility in the youth service is absolutely amazing. Ballyfermot Youth Service has received funding from the community safety innovation fund but that funding is coming to an end. The challenge is that it has not been mainstreamed, so it is not being taken into consideration along with the other sources of funding from the Department of Education and Youth. What is at risk now is the employment of two youth workers who were employed under that funding stream, as well as a psychotherapist who supports young people. When people grow up in an area of disadvantage, psychotherapists are like gold dust but they are really needed. There is intergenerational trauma and poverty and young people in areas like Ballyfermot really need to have mental health supports that are often not available. There are queues for everything in this country, particularly when it comes to youth mental health, so to have that service on site is absolutely vital. This is a basic service and one that every youth service should have. A long time ago, I worked as a youth worker and I have to say that youth work changes lives and saves lives. Tonight, I will be attending the community safety forum in Ballyfermot, which will be attended by representatives of Dublin City Council, An Garda Síochána, youth workers and people who live in the community. They are the pillars of our community, the people who hold it all together. What can be done here? I have written to the Minister about this and the reply I got just told me about all of the funding that the service gets already. The service is delighted with that funding - do not get me wrong - but it is going to lose three workers in this project because the long-term impact of having them now is not being considered. This is the problem when youth services and other services around the country rely on one-off funding. They become reliant on it to provide services. The need is there, so we need to be able to move the service in with the other mainstream funding services. The sum involved is €150,000, which is not a lot of money in the grander scheme of youth work provision. We need to make sure the investment in youth work in Ballyfermot is not lost as a result of losing those youth workers. We need a prevention model that takes the long-term view of what can be done for families in the area. We need to mainstream this and make sure that the service is available all of the time. That means that the allocation for 2026 needs to be adjusted for this youth service so that it is able to bring this into the mainstream part of the service to become part of the furniture. It is not the icing on the cake but is now part of the bread and butter services provided by Ballyfermot Youth Service.

I thank Deputy Cummins for raising this matter. The Minister for Education and Youth has asked me to set out the position with regard to youth work provision and the funding supports available. Supporting youth services and youth work is an absolute priority for the Department of Education and Youth. The Department is committed to ensuring that young people in Ballyfermot and everywhere else in the country have access to valuable resources and opportunities that enable them to thrive. The UBU, Your Place Your Space, scheme is the Department’s largest funded youth scheme targeting young people aged between ten and 24 years who are identified as marginalised, vulnerable and at risk of not flourishing. It delivers evidence-informed interventions that promote soft skills, confidence, and progression into education, training or employment, and provides the foundation for local youth organisations to deliver tailored supports that meet the needs of their communities. A budget of €50.7 million was allocated under the UBU scheme in 2025, representing a 4.5% increase on budget 2024. Over €17 million of that budget was allocated to City of Dublin Education and Training Board, CDETB, in its capacity as a grant administering body of the UBU scheme. In 2025, the Department allocated over €623,000 to Ballyfermot Youth Service under the UBU scheme to sustain core youth services, ensuring consistent support for young people. This represents a 4.5% increase on the previous year. Ballyfermot Youth Service caters to a wide range of young people and provides a diverse set of programmes, including non-formal education programmes, drop-in information sessions, music and arts programmes and access to the Erasmus+ programme. As the Deputy outlined, the work of Ballyfermot Youth Service empowers young people to make positive decisions around their life choices and to meet their needs by providing appropriate social, personal and development programmes. In addition, the Department allocated approximately €40,000 to Ballyfermot Youth Service in resilience and effectiveness funding. The service also received over €28,000 in 2025 as part of the summer holiday meals pilot programme, which supported the provision of meals to young people during the summer period. Further funding was allocated to Ballyfermot Youth Service under the local youth club grant scheme. Although the 2025 local youth club grant scheme annual reports have not yet been received by the Department, in 2024 Ballyfermot Youth Service received €4,000 in funding under this particular heading. Under the Estimates for the Department of Education and Youth, the youth affairs unit has been allocated an increase of €8 million in current and capital expenditure. While the high-level allocations are confirmed, a specific timeline for the release of the final detailed breakdown of the youth affairs schemes and programmes is not yet available. Work is continuing within the Department to finalise these allocations and they will be issued as soon as possible. There may well be funding from other Government Departments that Ballyfermot Youth Service could avail of. The Deputy can be assured that the Government values the work that is done by the service. We are eager to continue to fund it as best we can because we know that the work being done there is highly valuable.

I am delighted to hear that the Government values the work being done in Ballyfermot. If the Minister of State or the Minister ever gets an opportunity to visit, they should take it because the model there is fantastic. I spoke to the community garda in Ballyfermot who said that Ballyfermot Youth Service safeguards vulnerable young people. The role it plays in diverting young people from crime and anti-social behaviour cannot be overstated. We have heard a lot in the Dáil in the last week about the scourge of scramblers in this city and throughout the country. Places like youth services, where young people can be, can learn pro-social skills and can be involved in things they like, are absolutely transformational, not only for the young people themselves but also for their communities. Receiving a grant of €4,000 under the youth club grant scheme is fantastic, as is receiving €28,000 for the summer hot meals programme. In order to run the summer meals programme, the service needs all of the staff it currently has to deal with the 1,700 children who come through its doors. Losing three staff will mean fewer children will be fed in the summer months. As we know from the last few weeks, the hot school meals have been fantastic for young people. The delivery could be improved, and that is what we all want, but youth services being given that job during the summer is exactly what should happen. However, if the Ballyfermot service is down three staff, fewer young people will be able to engage in that programme. I feel like I am at an auction. Can we go higher? Can the Department give more money? What can we do to make sure that this €150,000 goes back into this community? The reality is youth services were cut drastically in austerity - really badly. They are inching their way back up but they are not back to the level they were before those cuts. Funding has certainly not been adjusted for inflation. On that basis, with this youth service asking for this pittance in comparison with the size of the budget we have, I ask the Minister to reconsider it and please visit so he can see how brilliant the work is.

Deputy Cummins can be assured that the Department, Minister and officials will continue to actively engage with City of Dublin ETB, youth services and young people to ensure that there is appropriate provision for young people in Ballyfermot. The Department's commitment builds on the significant work already undertaken through targeted funding and collaborative initiatives, which have strengthened youth services and expanded opportunities for inclusion and development. The Department is committed in its support for inclusive, needs-based youth work that empowers young people to thrive and contribute positively to their communities. The Department will maintain a proactive approach to ensure services in Ballyfermot and across the country remain responsive, accessible and impactful for all young people. I have no doubt the Minister and Department officials will take very much into account what the Deputy said and the case she has made in making funding allocations.