MANAGEMENT at one of the largest youth facilities on the Southside has accused the Government of threatening its ability to deliver services.

The St John Bosco Youth Centre on Davitt Road in Drimnagh primarily caters for young people in the area.

But the not for profit centre, which offers free and low cost services, also caters for the elderly and other marginalised groups such as the intellectually disabled.

Funding for the centre from several different agencies has been significantly cut since 2008.

An analysis of the cuts reveals that this year the centre received 31 per cent less funding from the HSE for its afterschool programme than it got in 2008.

There has also been a 14 per cent cut in funding since 2008 from the Office of the Minister for Drugs for the Somewhere to Go programme operated by staff at the centre.

Brian Murphy, manager at the youth centre, said the facility faces having to unnecessarily reduce its services because State agencies have failed to adopt any long-term strategies when implementing the cuts.

“What should happen within any of the funding agencies is that they should look and see what they are getting for their money,” Mr Murphy told Southside People.

Mr Murphy said if Government agencies continue to use funding cuts as a blunt instrument to reduce their own budgets without any long-term analysis of how the various services would be affected, then the infrastructure at the centre would be damaged.

He noted that the concerns of management were voiced at a recent public meeting, which was well attended by local politicians and local  residents

“Across the board we suffered about a 16 per cent cut last year,” he said.

“If we get anything over a five per cent cut this year we will have to let staff go, we will have to reduce the hours that we are open and we will probably then have to start increasing the costs for the voluntary groups or sports groups that use the centre here.”

Dublin South Central TD (SF) Aengus O'Snodaigh has called on the Government to protect funding for the centre.

A spokesman for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said its Youth Affairs Unit is reviewing the allocation of funding with a view to ensuring more efficient management and value for money as well as ensuring that the funding provided is both quality and outcomes focussed.