Youth Sector cannot endure more cutbacks.
At a meeting yesterday (January 13th) the National Youth Council of Ireland told the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan T.D. that the youth sector should not be targeted in the current round of €2bn cutbacks being considered. The budget for the youth sector which funds youth work in almost every community in Ireland is already reeling from a substantial 10% cut in the October budget.
The cuts for 2009 will greatly hamper and dramatically reduce the current services and supports, much of it to vulnerable young people who are disadvantaged due to a combination of factors such as social isolation, substance misuse, homelessness, early school leaving and unemployment. The existing cut of 10% will undermine the capacity of local groups who depend on small grants to survive, and limit national organisations support for the 40,000 volunteers who are the backbone of the youth services in Ireland as well as reducing front line youth services such as youth groups, projects and youth information centres.
Most youth organisations are trying to manage these cutbacks to minimise the impact on young people. However the existing cuts will inevitably lead to services and supports for young people being reduced. The prospect of further cuts will devastate the youth sector and destroy activities, work and supports built up over many years. The immediate and long term impact on young people and local communities of the decimation of youth work will be severe.
“We are concerned that the Budget cuts were indiscriminate, rushed and not thought through. The commitment to protect the vulnerable was not respected. We told the Minister yesterday that further cuts would devastate the youth sector. While we understand that cutbacks need to be made, we believe it is now time for those with greater resources to shoulder more of the cuts and pain” concluded Mary Cunningham, Director of the National Youth Council of Ireland.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Clodagh O’Brien, Communications Officer at the NYCI on 087 781 4903 or 01 425 5955 or email communications@nyci.ie
National Youth Council of Ireland
The National Youth Council of Ireland is a membership-led umbrella organisation that represents and supports the interests of 56 voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.