merrion street

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone, has today announced a new fund of up to €1 million which will provide funding to voluntary youth services to support programmes that target young people to improve their employability and achieve career goals.

The Youth Employability Initiative is supported by funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund which is overseen by the Department of Rural and Community Development.  This Youth Employability Initiative exemplifies the objectives of the Dormant Accounts legislation which is to assist the development of people who are socially, economically or educationally disadvantaged.

The Initiative is being launched today, 31st October and the administration of this Initiative will be supported by the sixteen Education and Training Boards throughout the country who will administer the funding to successful projects.  Each ETB will advertise the Initiative locally and further details on the application process will be available from the relevant ETB in due course.

This Initiative will be needs focused and each ETB will identify the target group to be supported within its ETB area.  The aim of the Initiative will be to target 16 to 24 yr olds, specifically 16 to 18 yr olds who are not currently in employment, education or training to assist them on their progression to employment.

The Initiative is specifically designed to support projects that emphasise additionality and non-duplication of services currently provided by youth projects.

Following the application, assessment and selection process successful applicants will be awarded a budget allocation and all awards will be based on the availability of funding.  Successful applications must demonstrate how they will directly address the target group.

In announcing the new Initiative, Minister Zappone stated:

I am delighted to be in a position to announce such a worthwhile Initiative and I am confident it will enhance opportunities and outcomes for our young people and enable them to reach their full potential.

This Initiative will provide our young people with the soft skills necessary to improve employability and to engage with other programmes to achieve their career goals.

The Minister thanked the sixteen ETBs, and in particular the youth officers, for their willingness to assist with the administration of this Initiative at a local level.