Savage cuts to local youth services slammed

AN INVALUABLE youth service in Ballymun has been hit with a hammer-blow of a

?¬146,000 cut in funding.

Ballymun Regional Youth Resource (BRYR) is still reeling from the 10 per cent cut in its funding, which was revealed last week.

A number of other Northside youth services, including the Ballymun Women’s Resource Centre and Poppintree Youth Service, were also dealt with hard-hitting funding cuts but BRYR was dealt the biggest blow.

The cuts are far greater than what the services had anticipated and budgeted for, according to Simon Daly of the BRYR board of directors.

“Year after year we get a call to say that our funding will be reduced and we have to try to work out how we can absorb this cut,

? he told Northside People.

“We have become increasingly frustrated and this year our services are really starting to be affected.

“We’d been given notice to expect a six and a half per cent cut in funding which we have budgeted for but last week we learned that the cut is more than double what we’d planned for.

“We’re three months into a year where we have worked to a budget cut of six per cent and now we’ll have to work seriously hard to absorb the cut over the rest of the year.

“It’s impossible to see how this will work.

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Mr Daly believes that redundancies may be their only option, which in turn will negatively impact on BRYR’s services.

There are 32 staff on BRYR’s payroll and the service deals with close to 1,000 young people per week.

“We have the widest catchment area of any youth service and we are trying very hard to maintain good quality and effective services,

? Mr Daly explained.

“Staff morale is low. Working with the service now seems like more of a vocation because of what we are trying to do and what makes things worse is that voluntary board members such as myself are being asked to consider hugely unpalatable and significant cuts that stretch way beyond our capabilities.

“The situation is further compounded when you take into account the general problems of youth mental health issues and rising youth unemployment in the area.

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Local TD Dessie Ellis (SF) condemned the cuts, which he said were particularly hard to stomach given that the children’s referendum was only passed just last year.

“Labour and Fine Gael told citizens the referendum was an opportunity to state clearly and unequivocally that we, the Irish people, value children and childhood,

? Deputy Ellis stated.

“Despite these fine words the Department of Youth and Children is ploughing ahead with cuts to youth services throughout Dublin.

“Worst of all, these cuts target the most disadvantaged areas in the city.

“There are many more projects whose services will be deeply affected by these cuts.

“The scale of the cuts will make some projects unviable and for others the cuts will have a devastating effect on vulnerable young people.

“In some cases the children who benefit from these services are in trauma or in trouble and these youth services are a vital intervention.

“Importantly, the projects are good value for money and a cost saving in the long-term.

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A spokesperson for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs explained how the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure (CRE), published in December 2011, required savings of 10 per cent from most Youth Programmes in 2013.

“The reductions required by the CRE were reflected in the 2013 estimates published in December 2012,

? she told Northside People.

“However, the City of Dublin Youth Service Board (CDYSB), as the grant administering body for the projects in the Dublin City area, has a role in advising the Department and offering recommendations on funding allocations in their area.

“On February 26, CDYSB submitted a proposal to the Department requesting that percentage reductions which are different to those outlined in the CRE would be applied to the projects in the Dublin City area.

“The proposed revised reductions vary from project to project, generally ranging from reductions of two per cent to 14 per cent.

“The Minister will examine this proposal, which is just received, and will be responding to CDYSB in relation to these recommendations very shortly.

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