Departmental Funding
Seanad Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I thank Senator Ní Chuilinn for raising this issue. I am taking this matter because youth work falls under the Department of education. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton.
The Department is dedicated to enhancing the delivery of youth work services and opportunities for young people across the country. UBU Your Place Your Space is the largest youth service scheme funded by the Department. It targets young people between the ages of ten and 24 who are identified as marginalised, vulnerable and at risk of not flourishing. The Department has provided funding to 258 targeted youth services across the 16 ETB areas this year. The ETBs co-ordinate the delivery of the funding to the services in their local area. Over €54 million has been allocated to the UBU scheme in 2026. This year's allocation brings on an increase of over €10 million or 24% on the period between 2021 and 2025.
In relation to the Solas Project, the allocation has increased each year since the entry to the UBU scheme in 2021 and by over €40,000 over the last two years. This allocation is over €375,000. The Department and the ETBs work closely in relation to these youth projects. The Senator has identified a number of people who are in vulnerable positions. These are targeted measures to try to ensure that we are getting funding to people who are vulnerable and provide wraparound services to make sure that children and young people are moved away from antisocial behaviour or a life of crime. That is where they are targeted to. We are in ongoing discussions across Government and within our Department in relation to funding. It is not for me to comment on where that lands over the next four or five days but the points the Senator has raised with me are not lost on me. I have seen some fantastic work being done by youth services and ETBs, funded by the Department over the last while. Building on those successes, we have to make sure that we are increasing the funding and that we are making sure that there is funding available for the most vulnerable people.
The Senator raised one or two specific pieces in her opening remarks that I would appreciate getting sight of in order that I could follow up on and have a full understanding of it both from my side and the Minister, Deputy Naughton's side. My reply is on the record, but it is something that the Government and the Department are very conscious of, and we want to make sure that we are doing more in that space. Every cent invested in youth services and moving people away from antisocial behaviour and crime is a huge benefit to them, their families and the State in the long run.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01