Youth Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central

I thank the Minister for agreeing to come out to the skate park. We know early intervention is far more effective and less costly than dealing with problems once they escalate. The Minister stated correctly the fund is to be put back into communities where there is drug-related crime and high-level antisocial behaviour. This is one such community. The service has benefited massively from the innovation fund and is grateful for that. It has worked well but needs to continue.
It is really unfair. They are given resources to set up a service that is working well and doing what we all want to see happen. In an area like this, we want to see kids diverted from antisocial behaviour and given proper and targeted mental health supports. Then the rug is pulled from under them.
I understand the fund was not created to give services multi-annual funding but we need to look at a multi-annual funding approach for services like this. They will absolutely engage with the community office in the Department, but is there any alternative source of funding? It is a perfect project for the Department of justice. It is effective and accomplished in furthering the ambitions the Department has in relation to youth diversion. I ask the Minister to look at the project and see what can be done to give it secure funding.
I meet a lot of staff in these services and every year they are fighting for funding to keep open, when they really want to be working and delivering their service. We need to look at funding these services on a multi-annual basis. This is the only way we will tackle disadvantage in many parts of our city, including the Minister's area.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25