Mrs Mary Cunningham: I really appreciate the opportunity and thank the Chair and the committee members for inviting the National Youth Council of Ireland to the meeting today. My colleague Mr. Paul Gordon and I are grateful to the members for their continued focus on youth work and its impact. A focus on youth work is long overdue. Youth Work Changes Lives is the title of the campaign which we at the National Youth Council of Ireland have run over many years to raise awareness of the very significant personal and societal value of youth work and the need to adequately resource the youth work sector in order that it can continue to support the almost 400,000 youth people that it serves. However, this is so much more than a campaign slogan. Youth work is a truly transformational process for young people the length and breadth of the country. Every day, we hear from our members - youth workers and young people - about how young people, some of whom come from very traumatic backgrounds, can find a safe space for the first time in their lives and about the sense of belonging they experience and which they find in youth work. We also hear about the fundamental feeling of openness that enables them to develop the confidence and resilience needed to flourish as young people in the here and now, and not just as some staging post to adult life.

This kind of work happens in many settings, and broadly speaking, the long-standing principles which underpin youth work include young people engaging as partners, a focus on the needs and experiences of young people as individuals and meeting young people where they are at. In an Irish context, youth work is viewed as a non-formal educational and developmental process based on the voluntary participation of young people. Voluntary youth organisations are the primary providers of youth work in Ireland and this is enshrined within the Youth Work Act 2001, which also recognises the NYCI as the national representative youth work organisation. Youth work has an intrinsic, but often intangible societal value. Often, it is only years later that young people pinpoint their engagement with youth work as a turning point in their lives and their journey to uncovering hidden talents, finding their voice and overcoming adversity. We frequently learn of this recognition from people in all walks of life, including from Members of these Houses. This means that the impact of youth work can be hard to measure in the here and now, but Irish and international evidence reviews clearly demonstrate lasting and meaningful positive outcomes for young people and society as a result of youth work. These outcomes include personal development and growth, including increased confidence, openness to feedback, motivation and identity development; improved physical and mental health and well-being, including enhanced ability to manage anxiety and depression and a reduction in risky behaviours around drug-taking, smoking and engagement in sexual activity; improved education and career skills, including showing greater motivation, engagement, connection in school and enhanced career aspirations, as well as enhanced social responsibility and positive peer connections and connections with adults.

[For the full debate, click here to the Oireachtas website]