2025-12-11

I thank the Minister of State for being here. This is not meant disrespectfully to him but I regret that the senior Minister is not here. This is a practice that I do not think is brilliant. Again, I thank the Minister of State for being here but it is not good practice for senior Ministers to never be in the House to take their Topical Issues, which frequently is my experience. Some 33% of the population of Balbriggan is aged 17 years or under. We call it the youngest town in Ireland because the facts back us up. It is a town that is blessed, and I want to say blessed, with a very vibrant, young population. A report was conducted recently on the spaces and youth services in Balbriggan and young people themselves had an opportunity to tell us what they were thinking and what they needed. What they say they need and what they want are safe spaces, places where they can be and hang out. Not every young person plays sport. There is not always something but they do not want to hang around either. They want to have somewhere to be where they can be safe and where they can hang out. I was in Foróige in Balbriggan recently for Oíche na hÓige and I spoke to Aisling O'Connell, Antoinette Kelly and Amanda Cullen about the work they are doing. I am a big fan of the work done by Foróige workers, as I sure the Minister of State is himself. I have seen what they do and the real difference they make in people's lives. I cannot understand why, in the youngest town in Ireland, funding for youth work and youth services is going entirely in the wrong direction. For example, we recently lost three youth workers. That is 100 to 150 young people who need services and support who will not now be in a position to get it. The funding for youth work in Dublin is barely meeting the baseline for existing levels of service. When you have a growing population, even maintaining existing levels of service means you are going to fall behind. The Government is not even doing that. That issue about underfunding for youth work is more acutely felt in towns like Balbriggan where we have a large population of young people. Looking at the NDP, we see that youth services could, at the very best, be described as the poor relation. We say on the one hand that we do not want young people hanging around. If they hang around too much we tell them that is causing antisocial behaviour. They get lectured eight days a week by people like me and, with no disrespect to the Minister of State, like him about spending too much time on screens, but if we are not giving them a viable option, what other choice do they have? I recently had two graduates of the Leadership for Life programme run by Foróige doing work experience in my office and they blew me away. When I spoke to them, a lot of the confidence they had and the capacity to come into a place like this to spend a couple of days working came from the input from the people in Foróige. I am concerned that, in a town like Balbriggan, Foróige workers needs permanent places to be. They need multi-annual funding and they need to know when they start a programme, like the UBU programme that they can keep running it. Amanda needs to know, when she starts the UBU programme, that she is going to be able to run it again and keep running it. That requires a dedicated funding stream. Will the Minister of State please ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to come to Balbriggan and visit Foróige? There is a new place going to be opening in Castlelands Community Centre, but if she could visit the existing premises, meet some of the young people and see the good work is being done, that would inform her work a bit better.

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising the matter. As a former teacher and director of adult education, I share a lot of what she says. Not everyone plays sport and some people need that safe space to be themselves and to be creative. As a citizen, I concur with the Deputy. As a Minister of State, I will certainly articulate the views she shared. I acknowledge the Minister, Deputy Naughton, is not here today. I take this opportunity, on the her behalf, to set out the provision in respect of youth work in Balbriggan, which the Deputy articulated very eloquently. The Deputy made the important point that 33% of the population of Balbriggan is under the age of 17. That percentage is quite high. Supporting youth services and youth work is an absolute priority for the Department of Education and Youth, which is committed to ensuring that young people in Balbriggan and across the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, ETB, area, and, indeed, across the country, have access to valuable resources and opportunities that enable them to thrive. The Deputy mentioned the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme, which is the Department's largest funded youth scheme. It targets young people in the age group of ten to 24 years who are identified as marginalised, vulnerable and at risk of not flourishing. The scheme provides a foundation for local youth organisations to deliver tailored supports that meet the needs of their communities. Last year, €51 million was allocated to the scheme, with more than €9 million going to Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB for its delivery. The Deputy rightly praised Foróige in Balbriggan. As Minister of State with responsibility for community development, I will happily visit the organisation with her. It is delivering the UBU project from the Castlemill Education Centre. Everyone here, including the Ceann Comhairle, will pay tribute and testify to the importance of Foróige. In the case of the Balbriggan branch, it delivers needs-based, targeted youth services that support young people in their social, personal and educational development. For me, as Minister of State and as a former teacher, it is all about young people. The Deputy referenced screens but it is about more than just screens. It is about ensuring the safe spaces, positive relationships and meaningful opportunities young people deserve and need can be provided in order that they can grow, develop and flourish. The strength of the UBU project lies in having a place-based and needs-led approach. It is also about the tailoring of services, including in Balbriggan, to allow young people to be supported and empowered. We are all struck by the power of young people. I join the Deputy in praising and supporting the senior youth worker and the two other youth workers in Balbriggan for their engagement, commitment to inclusion, helping to give young people a sense of resilience and confidence and teaching them skills, not just for life but also to go on to work and further education. To underpin that work, the Department allocated €142,560 in UBU funding to Foróige Balbriggan last year. Recognising that organisations often face additional pressures, the Department also operates the Resilience and Effectiveness initiative. This measure is designed to strengthen UBU-funded organisations by addressing specific challenges, whether financial or operational, and enabling them to expand service provision where demand is high. Last year, Foróige Balbriggan received an additional €60,417 under this initiative, following a recommendation from Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB. In addition to Foróige, the Department also funds Remember Us Balbriggan under the UBU scheme. Remember Us provides a vital service for young people aged ten to 24 in the north Dublin area. The Deputy has a copy of my reply, so I will not use the time remaining to me to go through the rest of it. The point I want to make is that there is more that unites us than divides us on this important issue. I will convey the Deputy's views to the Minister. I hope the Department will actively continue to review and strengthen youth work services across the country to ensure they are responsive to the evolving needs of young people, including in Balbriggan, and that they are effectively resourced to enable them to provide the positive outcomes for young people that they deserve.

The Minister of State certainly can consider himself invited to Balbriggan. I would absolutely love to show him around and to show off. There is nothing we like more than showing off the good things in our constituency. This is a good thing in my constituency and I would like to show it off. The Minister of State mentioned the numbers in his response and I can see those figures on the page in front of me. However, they do not match up with the growing need in the area. The Government says it wants young people to be able to access the services and all the rest of it but I do not know how it reconciles that with Balbriggan’s loss of three youth workers. That means 100 to 150 young people who need support will not get it. The Minister of State referred to the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme, which is absolutely fantastic and does exactly what it says on the tin. It helps young people who are marginalised or vulnerable and at risk of not flourishing. That is a great phrase. That is the problem: these young people are at risk of not flourishing without this intervention. I recently visited Remember Us and Foróige and heard from the young people there exactly how valuable the services are to them, how much they need and appreciate them and how much more could be done with more investment. That is the key here. We must ensure there are safe permanent spaces where young people can access services. We must ensure youth workers are properly funded. We also must ensure things like auto-enrolment are catered for in the funding because that is a right those workers have as much as everybody else. While I absolutely welcome the money that has been given to date, there is a growing need and the budget must grow with that need.

I thank the Deputy again for raising this important issue. I assure her that the Department officials will continue to actively engage with Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB, local youth services and young people themselves to ensure there is the appropriate provision for young people in Balbriggan. This commitment builds upon the significant work already undertaken through targeted funding, collaborative initiatives and the overarching efforts to strengthen youth services and expand opportunities for inclusion and development. I will not lie to the Deputy and say there are no challenges; of course there are. The Department of Education and Youth is committed to remaining steadfast in its support for inclusive, needs-based youth work that empowers young people to thrive and contribute positively to their communities. The Department and the Government will maintain a proactive approach to ensure services in Balbriggan and across the country remain responsive, accessible and impactful for all young people. If the Deputy sends me an invitation to Balbriggan by email, I will happily go there. I have huge admiration for the work being done by Foróige. As Minister of State with responsibility for community development, I recognise the need for and importance of engaging in a collaborative conversation, not just in a back-and-forth way in this House but locally as well. I look forward to visiting the services with the Deputy. I ask that she send me an email. I assure her I will go out there.

The Minister of State will have that email before day's end.

I will not make it out before Christmas. We will go after Christmas.

Would Members believe I was a member of Foróige back in my youth?

The Ceann Comhairle has not lost the skills.

It is not so long ago.

I thank Deputy Cullinane. How nice of him to say so.