Youth plan: €7.12m promised. Nothing spent

THE Government has failed to spend one euro of the €7.12 million promised for the National Youth Work Development Plan launched a year ago today.

"This is an absolute scandal since a large part of this budget was targeted at the 200,000 disadvantaged teenagers nationwide who are most likely to get involved in crime," said Fine Gael's Education spokesman David Stanton.

An overall €37m five-year plan was announced on August 5, 2003, by Junior Education Minister Sile de Valera.

"The minister promised €7.12 million of that funding would be delivered in 2003 and 2004, but as soon as the photographers and journalists left Dublin Castle the entire plan was put on the back burner," Mr Stanton said.

Only €620,000 (8.7%) of that money has been allocated, but not a cent of that has been spent a year later, the Fine Gael Education spokesman claimed.

The minister also promised the appointment of an Assessor of Youth Work and a Project Manager to implement the Child Protection Programme in the youth sector during the first year of the plan, but none of these appointments has been made.

Under the plan, the Government promised the following key organisations money, but none has been provided to date:

VECs were to get €1.269m.

The capital programme expected €634,900.

The Youth Club Grant scheme was promised €317,500.

The Youth Work Development Fund expected €250,000.

The regional/local youth services were promised €38,500.

The National Youth Council was promised €133,400.

The Department of Education insisted last night that steps have been taken to implement the plan but would not give an exact timeframe on when the €7.12m promised for 2003 and 2004 would be provided.

The department said that Ms de Valera has just announced a 4% rise in the major schemes funded in the youth sector. This will include €500,000 for the implementation of the National Youth Work Development Plan, and the department also expects, by late September or early October, to appoint a project manager to implement the Child Protection programme in the youth work sector.

The Assessor of Youth Work is due to be appointed in the autumn.

"These actions are indicative of the fact that the minister and the department are pursuing the implementation of the various elements of the plan," said Ms de Valera's spokeswoman.