THE manager of a local youth project has warned that funding cuts imposed by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will deprive disadvantaged children of services that could help lift them out of poverty.
Ballyfermot Youth Service (BYS), which offers a wide range of services to young people in one of the most underprivileged areas in the country, has criticised the decision to cut its annual funding by 14 per cent.
Earlier this month the City of Dublin Youth Services Board (CDYSB), which is a funding vehicle for several government departments, informed the BYS that its annual funding allocation of e527,000 would be cut by e73,000.
The CDYSB also informed other local groups such as the Candle Community Trust that its budget allocation for 2012 of e87,000 would be slashed by e49,000 or 56 per cent.
It’s understood that BASE Ballyfermot will also suffer a e59,000 or 15 per cent cut in its annual funding allocation of e393,000.
The cuts amount to about e600,000 in total and will also impact to a lesser extent on a number of other youth projects across the south city, including the Donore Avenue Education Network, St Michael’s Youth Project in Rialto and the Rialto Youth Project.
Ballyfermot Youth Service provides outdoor education programmes, drop in information centres, music and arts programmes, access to the European Youth in Action programme and a comprehensive drugs peer education programme.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs announced earlier this year that funding to the CDYSB for youth services would be cut by 6.5 per cent. But the department now says the new round of cuts represents an overall 10 per cent cut in funding for the city’s youth services.
Gerry McCarthy, manager of Ballyfermot Youth Service, said the cutbacks will have a serious impact on services.
“What this means is that we may have to close one of our centres in Ballyfermot,
? he added.
“And it means that maybe 6,000 contact hours will be lost with our service users.
“This is an attack on the most disadvantaged communities in Ireland. In Ballyfermot we have 30 per cent unemployment among the 18 to 25 age group. We will have to cut back on the programmes we deliver and that will directly impact on the most disadvantaged youths in the area.
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Cllr Criona Ni Dhalaigh (SF), who is a board member of the CDYSB, said it was a
“disgrace
? that the Government was cutting funding to youth projects at a time when they are more in demand than ever before.
“This is an attack on young people in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country,
? she said.
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 Southside 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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Southside People contacted the CDYSB but it was unavailable for comment.