Youth Work Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-16
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Aidan Farrelly (SD), Kildare North

I thank the Minister. If she will indulge me, it is very rare I get the opportunity to speak about my life experience prior to being in here but I have been a youth worker for about 16 years or the guts of three Dáil terms. The day before the general election I submitted my PhD thesis, which was on professional youth work. It asked youth workers many of the same questions that were asked afterwards by the Department. I will happily share the findings with the Minister.
Youth workers, in the main, are very satisfied but equally they are very concerned about what the future looks like because we are losing good youth worker after good youth worker to other sectors who can offer more. They can offer more in terms of pay and remuneration but also the burnout associated with the occupation is really difficult.
When the Minister says that advisory group is going to meet in September, who makes up the membership of that? The information the Minister's Department has collected is golden with regard to the sector. Will the Minister publish the findings of that survey? It would be really useful information.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:17+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-16