Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
533. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total expenditure allocated to new development measures in respect of youth affairs in each of the past six years and in 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6133/26]
View answerI was pleased to announce an €8 million increase in current and capital expenditure for the Youth Affairs Unit in Budget 2026; over the period from 2020 to 2026 the main Youth Affairs budget subhead has increased by approximately 43%.
In 2025, new development measure funding supported the UBU Your Place Your Space funding scheme, which targets disadvantaged young people with evidence-informed interventions. An additional €1,200,000 was secured for the establishment of 10 new UBU youth services, providing targeted youth worker-led support to up to 1,000 young people in areas where it was most needed.
Additionally, in line with the Government’s wider commitment to end child poverty, the Child Poverty and Well Being Office in the Department of the Taoiseach engaged with the Youth Affairs Unit in the Department of Education and Youth to run a pilot in 2025 to address holiday hunger during the summer months as part of the Government’s commitment to tackling Holiday Hunger. This initiative was designed to help feed up to 1,000 young people aged 10 to 18 years who were at risk of lacking access to a hot or substantial meal during school closure times; in practice, over 3,000 young people across more than 40 participating UBU Your Place Your Space services availed of this support, and an evaluation of the initiative is currently underway in conjunction with Education and Training Board Ireland (ETBI). This pilot initiative received funding of €500,000 for 2025.
Other functions to which new development measures funding has been allocated over the past five years include supporting volunteers in youth work organisations under the Volunteer Activation Fund and opening up the Youth Services Grant Scheme to new applicant organisations under a Pilot Youth Services Grant Scheme.
The annual breakdown of the new development measures funding provided to the Department between 2021 and 2026 in respect of youth organisations and services can be found below.
Youth Affairs Unit annual funding allocation under New Development Measures
|
Year |
NDM Funding |
|
2026 |
Nil |
|
2025 |
€1.7 million |
|
2024 |
€3.5 million |
|
2023 |
Nil |
|
2022 |
Nil |
|
2021 |
Nil |
