Ryan O'Meara
Ceist:185. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth the timeline to conclude the YSGS pilot and open a full reformed scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13415/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 18 February 2026
Ceisteanna (185)
Freagraí scríofa
The Youth Services Grant Scheme (YSGS) is a national funding scheme which funds the effective delivery by youth organisations of quality services to young people that support their social and personal development. It also provides funding to organisations that provide necessary supports to the wider youth sector (for example, through representing the shared interests of voluntary youth organisations, capacity building and professional development).
The Scheme has been in existence for four decades and is the subject of an ongoing process of reform to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of young people. An important part of this reform is the opening up of the scheme to new youth organisations.
Action 15 of Opportunities for Youth, the national strategy for youth work and related services, commits to the delivery a reformed YSGS that is more responsive to the current needs of young people, facilitates youth organisations to more effectively deliver services to young people, and enhances the governance and oversight structures for the scheme. An action plan is being prepared for publication to capture the work done under Opportunities for Youth to date and the work for delivery in 2026. This action plan will include timelines for tasks under action 15.
Some important improvements have already been made to the YSGS as a result of the reform process including improvements to grant management documents. A key step in the reform was the opening of the scheme to new applicant organisations under a pilot version of a new application process for the first time in 2024. Five youth organisations were awarded funding under this pilot, bringing the number of national youth organisations funded under the YSGS to thirty-five.
The organisations funded under the YSGS vary considerably in scale, in their activities, and in how they use their grant funding. Given the variation in scale and activities among the YSGS-funded organisations, their transition to a reformed scheme is complex, and it is important that this transition is managed in a way that minimises disruption to the work of these organisations and ensures the long-term strength of the youth sector. While work continues to determine an appropriate structure for allocating funding to such a diverse range of bodies, organisations receiving funding under the legacy YSGS continue to use the existing renewals process. Organisations funded under the pilot have been invited to apply for renewal of funding under a modified version of the existing renewal process and allocation letters for 2026 funding are currently being finalised.