Youth Affairs
Youth Work Act 2001 - BRIEFING PAPER
Introduction
The Youth Work Act 2001 provides a number of positive developments for youth work.
- It provides a legal framework for the provision of youth work programmes and services. The Act gives statutory responsibility at national level to the Minister of Education and Science and at local level to the VECs, for the development of youth work and its co-ordination with other services for young people.
- It also provides for the planning and development of youth work at a “local” level, i.e. VEC level.
- It provides for the establishment of a National Youth Work Advisory Committee and the appointment of a Youth Work Assessor.
This paper sets out the responsibilities of the parties named in the Act and identifies some of the issues arising from the Act and what action has been taken to address them.
Background
On 28th April 2000 the Minister for Youth Affairs, Mr. Willie O’Dea, T.D., published the first stage of the Youth Bill 2000. This Bill was an amendment of the Youth Work Act 1997. The Youth Work Bill 2000 passed committee stage in Dail Eireann on 17th October 2001 and Report Stage on 8th November 2001. Seanad Eireann considered the Bill on 14th November 2001 and it passed onto the statute books on 22nd November 2001.
The Minister commenced Section 17 and 18 establishing the National Youth Work Advisory Committee and Section 24 recognising NYCI as the Prescribed National Representative Youth Work Organisation on 26th April 03. No further sections of the Act have been commenced.
In 2005, the then Minister of State Ms. Síle de Valera,T.D succeeded in achieving an 18% increase in the funding allocation for 2005 and announced that her priority was the implementation of the Youth Work Act 2001 and aspects of the National Youth Work Development Plan. In August 2006, the Minister announced the allocation of Youth Officers to VECs to implement the Act at local level. In 2007 Youth Officer posts were recruited across the country and the first steps in the implementation of the Youth Work Act began.
Structures established under the Act
1. The Responsibilities of the Minister for Education & Science
The Act defines the functions of the Minister as ensuring the development and co-ordination of policies relating to youth work programmes and services and ensuring that these programmes and services are co-ordinated with other educational programmes and services in both Irish and English. The Act also states that the Minister has responsibilities for providing funding for services to young people, for monitoring, assessment and for research.
The Minister may (Section 15 (b)) introduce the provision of a supplementary programme or service at national level which is complementary to the approved VEC Youth Work Development Plan.
2. National Youth Work Advisory Committee
The Act enables the Minister to establish a National Youth Work Advisory Committee. The functions are to advise on the provision, co-ordination and evaluation of youth work programmes and services and on the development of youth work policies.
NYWAC is also required to advise the Minister on the co-ordination of youth work with other educational and non-educational services for young people. NYWAC should advise the Minister on:
· Provision and co-ordination of youth work;
· Youth work policies;
· Co-ordination of youth work with formal education and other services for young people;
· Guidelines and regulations issued by the Minister;
· The criteria for recognition of national, regional or local youth organisations;
· The manner in which VECs implement the regulations and guidelines and criteria issued by the Minister;
· The provision of youth work programmes and youth work services in the Gaeltacht and /or to young persons whose first language is Irish.
2.1 Membership of NYWAC.
The membership of NYWAC will be between 31 and 33. The Minister will appoint the Chair and two other appointees. The Department of Education and Science will have two members and all other key Government departments and FÁS will have one member. 50% of NYWAC will be nominees of the Prescribed National Youth Work Representative Organisation.
In Section 24, the Minister named theNational Youth Council of Ireland as the first Prescribed National Representative Youth Organisation for a period of three years.
The Minister accepted an amendment to increase from two to four the number of Irish Vocational Education Association nominees to the National Youth Work Advisory Committee.
3. The Assessor of Youth Work
The Assessor has two principal functions. Firstly, the assessment and monitoring of youth work programmes and services in receipt of funding under the Act. In addition, the Assessor will review the functions relating to the Minister and the VEC’s in the administration of the various youth work programmes and services.
The Assessor’s duties also include financial examinations of the youth work organisations and the annual monitoring of youth work programmes. Assessment will take place at least once every three years.
The annual report and other published reports shall be in Irish and English.
4. The Responsibilities of VECs
The Vocational Education Committees are given statutory responsibility for the development of youth work in their areas. It is proposed that the VECs must prepare a Development Plan for youth work for a three-year period. The Plan is then submitted to the Minister for funding and the Minister may or may not choose to amend the Plan. At local level, the VEC must ensure co-ordination of youth work programmes and services with other educational programmes provided for young people. The VEC must also ensure that the provision is aimed specifically at the ten to twenty one age group, other young people who are socially or economically disadvantaged and young people who are living in a Gaeltacht or whose first language is Irish.
The VEC has also responsibility for monitoring and assessing youth work programmes and services funded by or through the VEC. The VEC will also review the implementation of the Development Plan and this will involve examining the effectiveness and efficiency of youth work services provided within its area. The VEC will also report on all aspects of its functions in its Annual Report that is submitted to the Minister.
4.1. The Youth Work Committee
The VEC is required to establish a Youth Work Committee as a sub-committee of the VEC. This Committee will make recommendations to the VEC on the development of youth work policies and programmes, produce a Development Plan for consideration of the VEC Committee and report to the VEC on the implementation of the Youth Work Development Plan when it is approved by the VEC Committee.
The minimum membership of a Youth Work Committee (Section 20) is increased to 16 and the Voluntary Youth Council will elect half of the membership. The VEC must also appoint a representative from the Health Service Executive, the Gardaí, the School Inspectorate, and FAS. In addition, the Minister has allocated places on the Youth Work Committee to nominees of the Minister for Social, Community & Family Affairs and the Minister for Tourism, Sport & Recreation and where a VEC functions in a Gaeltacht area, Údarás na Gaeltachta.
The maximum number on the YWC is still 20 and that allows the VEC to appoint one to three of its members to the Youth Work Committee.
4.2 Chairperson of the Youth Work Committee
The Youth Work Committee must appoint a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the VEC members of that Committee.
4.3 Relationship between the Youth Work Committee and the VEC.
Section 19 (1) (a) allows a Youth Work Committee to make recommendations to the VEC on the performance by the VEC of its functions under Section 19 (2). If the VEC rejects a recommendation of the Youth Work Committee, the VEC must refer the recommendation back to the Youth Work Committee for their consideration of the matter again. If the Youth Work Committee makes the same recommendation to the VEC and if the VEC again rejects the same recommendation then the matter must be referred to the Minister.
5. Voluntary Youth Council
The Act states that each VEC should establish a Voluntary Youth Council to advise on the preparation and implementation of the Development Plan as well as other matters relating to the implementation of the Plan. In addition, the VYC will provide a forum for voluntary youth work organisations operating in the area to discuss the provision of youth work programmes and services. The Act indicates that the Voluntary Youth Council should be not less than 10 and not more than 20 members. One fifth of the membership should be under twenty-five and 25% can be staff employed in the region by voluntary youth organisations.
For further information please contact:
Ms. Jackie Dwane,
Youth Officer,
County Limerick VEC,
Marshal House,
Dooradoyle,
Co. Limerick
Tel: 061 - 442100
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