Independent Councillors call for a Youth Plan for County Kildare

Cllr’s Pádraig  McEvoy,  Paddy Kennedy and Catherine Murphy have identified the  need to co-ordinate future investment’s  in Kildare’s growing youth population.  While there are hundreds of sporting and social organisations across County Kildare committed to youth leadership, the role-out of facilities and services have not kept pace with many of the changes in recent years. State funding is managed locally by a range of organisations, which include Kildare County Council,  Kildare Youth Services, the Vocational Education Committee, Foróige, the Health Board/ H.S.E., the Kildare Leadership Partnership, An Garda Síochána and the County Development Board. At a time when funding has been curtailed in many spending areas, it is important that some inter-agency co-ordination be developed to ensure the maximum positive impact for our communities.

Cllr Pádraig McEvoy highlighted: “We want to indentify the cooperation opportunities so that gaps in services and infrastructure can be targeted for a better use of tax-payer and rate-payers contributions. There is an opportunity for Kildare’s youth groups and their wider communities to formulate a strategic approach with medium to long-term goals. If we work towards building a sustainable set of services, the benefits can be developed well into the future.”

Cllr Paddy Kennedy stated: “We would like to see how the current investment approaches can be developed into a Youth Plan for Kildare. Kildare County Council’s commissioned report by Dr Martina Roche on the poverty profile, the successes of most  the Council’s playground investments and updated population statistics can all be used to better deliver for the coming generations.”

In response, Mr Peter Minnock, Director of Housing, Community and Cultural Services Directorate, reported that Kildare will be included in one of the next six Children Services Committees to be established through the Offices of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. These are to be run under the auspices of the Kildare County Development Board and an early action will be an audit of youth services. Mr Minnock plans to brief the Council in due course.

Cllr Catherine Murphy said that “A proper analysis of our county’s youth requirements should be the basis for distributing future investment. It is often the case that groups with experience of grant applications succeed whereas there are others that may not be aware of the opportunities. I hope to see an inventory of all the leisure facilities in the County so that we can prioritise how to fill the gaps. I know that many youth groups will want an opportunity to liaise with the Children Services Committee.”

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Posted by catherinemurphy on April 28, 2010. Filed under homepage,Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.