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Press release

Minister O’Gorman launches next phase of Youth Services Grant Scheme (YSGS) reform project

  • YSGS funding has supported National Youth Organisations since the 1980s.
  • YSGS Reform Project moving into implementation phase, following intensive stakeholder engagement, key reforms to be in place for January 2024 funding cycle.
  • Dedicated microsite will provide information and updates.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, today announced that the project to reform the Youth Services Grant Scheme (YSGS) will move into its implementation phase. This phase will be guided by the YSGS Reform Project Implementation Plan (PIP) commencing from 2 August 2022. This plan includes a detailed outline of all tasks and milestones necessary to attain the project’s core deliverables ahead of the January 2024 funding cycle.

Since its introduction in the 1980s, the YSGS has provided funding to National Youth Organisations delivering services and supports that have benefited the social and personal development of children and young people. However, aspects of the scheme are outdated, and reform of the scheme is a priority for Minister O’Gorman and the Department. In July 2021, the Minister approved a proposal outlining the potential scope for this reform.

The preliminary phase of the reform project focussed on an intensive multi-stage process of data gathering and engagement with key stakeholders. During this phase, the Department engaged with the youth work sector and with children and young people directly, and commissioned an academic literature review.

This input informed the YSGS Reform Policy, approved by Minister O’Gorman and the Department’s Management Board in May 2022. Under this policy, seven Core deliverables will be achieved for the January 2024 funding cycle, with a further five ‘Core Plus’ deliverables in place by January 2025. See the full project deliverables.

The Department has established a full Governance Structure for the project. This includes a Project Advisory Group, comprised of external stakeholder representatives and an independent Chair. This group, along with the Department’s commitment to a detailed Communications Plan, will support effective engagement with stakeholders throughout the implementation phase of the project.

Regular project updates and published outputs will be available on a dedicated gov.ie microsite, accessible at YSGS Reform Microsite.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister O’Gorman said:

“I am delighted to see the reform of the YSGS move into its next phase. The reforms we implement now will help to ensure that the children and young people of Ireland can continue to benefit from youth services of the highest quality, long into the future.

"As we move towards the introduction of these reforms in January 2024, it will be crucial that we maintain engagement with stakeholders and the wider public, and so I am particularly pleased to launch a dedicated gov.ie microsite. I would encourage all those interested in the reform project to use this resource to keep updated as the project moves through the implementation phase.”

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

The YSGS came into existence in the mid-1980s under the Department of Education. For almost 40 years, this scheme has supported National Youth Organisations in delivering services that have benefited the social and personal development of children and young people. In 2022, €12.9m was allocated for expenditure through the YSGS scheme. This allocation funds 30 national youth organisations, with Individual annual grants ranging from c.€3m to less than €50,000. Pobal administers the scheme on behalf of DCEDIY, in the capacity of a funding intermediary.

The reform of the YSGS follows the reform of various targeted youth work schemes that was recently completed by DCEDIY and resulted in the launch in 2019 of a single, streamlined targeted scheme entitled UBU: Your Place Your Space.

The primary objective of the planned reform of the YSGS is deliver a scheme that:

  • Improve accessibility to YSGS, utilising input and insights from children and young people to create conditions for increasing the rates of participation in universal youth services.
  • Develop mechanisms to empower funded organisations to actively and agilely respond to demographic and other dynamic factors impacting children and young people.
  • Institute governance standards that enhance levels of assurance and oversight with respect to Exchequer funding.
  • Ensure the grant funding process is transparent and rooted in evidence.
  • Provide for transparent access to the reformed YSGS, thereby facilitating the evolution of the YSGS to better reflect contemporary universal youth services environment.

The 12 Deliverables to be achieved by the reform project.

View the project Governance Structure.