Written Answers. - Parliamentary Debates - Houses of the Oireachtas

[Deputy Frances Fitzgerald.]
Questions— 14 February 2012. Written Answers
Youth in Action Programme (administered by Léargas — the Exchange Bureau) and Gaisce
— the President’s Award.
This funding supports the delivery of a range of youth work programmes and services for all
young people, including those from disadvantaged communities, by the voluntary youth sector.
Youth work programmes and services are delivered to over 1.2m young participants in the
various programmes by some 1,100 youth work staff and by a volunteer base of over 60,000.
The main objectives of the Youth Affairs area are to develop and implement coherent,
coordinated and relevant youth policies and strategies to support the youth sector in providing
effective non-formal education and developmental opportunities for young people through
which they can enhance and develop their personal and social skills and competencies.
In that context, as previously advised to the Deputy, a new youth strategy is being developed
by my Department. Through this work a clear policy framework will emerge that will aim to
enhance the development, participation and support of young people.
As part of this work my Department has commissioned a review of international best practice
in the field of youth development and support. The findings of this review will inform my
Department’s policy objectives and future funding provision with the aim of ensuring that the
young people participating in youth services derive maximum benefit.
It is my intention that this policy framework will also facilitate and promote co-ordination
and coherence across departments and services and will set out the priorities, rationale and
criteria for future funding programmes. It will also accommodate issues relevant to young
people within the 10-24 age range in informal or out-of-school settings that fall within the remit
of my Department. The overall objective will be to clarify and enhance coherence, connectivity,
coordination and delivery in youth services and related out-of-school services for young people
and to ensure such provision is both quality and outcomes based.
The Youth Strategy is being developed in the overall context of the development of a new
National Children and Young People’s Policy Framework 2012-2017 by my Department,
thereby ensuring support for the provision of services in the context of a whole child perspective.
Ensuring quality service delivery is an ongoing priority for my Department and in that context
two quality standards initiatives are being progressed in the youth area that will help to
ensure improvements in good practice, that services are outcomes focussed and that the young
people involved are deriving the maximum benefit from their participation in the services and
programmes provided.
Through the National Youth Work Advisory Committee (NYWAC), my Department is
involved in ongoing and productive dialogue with the youth sector. This committee is composed
of a chairperson and 32 members drawn equally from the voluntary and statutory sectors
involved in the administration and provision of youth work programmes and services. Thirteen
nominees from the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) and four from the Irish
Vocational Education Association (IVEA) are represented on the committee.
This committee advises me on matters relating to the development and coordination of youth
work policies, programmes and services. The committee meets on average four to five times a
year a year. Through this committee, a forum is provided through which specific issues and
concerns can be addressed and progressed.
Proposed Legislation
97. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she will
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