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

There is great work going on but the challenge the Senator presented where people are committing crime just to get on a system is not right and proper. That is not what we are building the youth services or indeed SOLAS or the UBU for. We will reflect very carefully on the evidence the Senator has just shared with me.
The officials in the Department have gone out and reached all the ETBs involved in youth services over the last while to get a sense of where things are at. Obviously, some of the most challenging are in some of the inner-city areas. We are very mindful of that.
Every young person who is directed away from a life of antisocial behaviour and crime is a win for that young person, for their families and for us all in the long run. We have to invest in a targeted way to make sure the funding is reaching the most vulnerable people. I take the points the Senator raised and we will reflect very carefully on it both at Department level and ETB level as well.

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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