asked the Minister for Labour if he will make a statement on the breakdown of finance allocated to the youth affairs section, and its relative distribution according to training, enterprise, community and social projects.

The youth affairs section of my Department received a total allocation of £2.95 million in 1985 under the heading, Grant-in-aid Fund for Youth Organisations and other expenditure in relation to Youth. Funds were allocated as follows:

It is not possible in the case of these funds to provide a breakdown under the headings referred to by the Deputy as they are not allocated on that basis.

In addition, the Teamwork youth employment scheme is operated by the youth affairs section. This is a community managed scheme designed to help voluntary organisations provide temporary community based employment for their young people. Teamwork projects are community/social projects. Training and enterprise type projects are not eligible under the scheme. In 1985, £8.5 million was allocated towards the operation of the scheme. This allowed for the employment of some 3,285 young people on 400 different projects throughout the country.

While I appreciate the budgetary constraints under which the Minister operated, I must point out that the expenditure is rather wasteful. For instance, the employment of full time youth workers is not being financed 100 per cent. Does the Minister not consider that the most urgent requirement of the youth affairs section of his Department is the 100 per cent funding of full time youth workers who are leading the field in the whole area of youth development?

The national youth policy is designed not to supplant the existing youth services operated by voluntary organisations but to assist them in every was possible. The input of voluntary organisations is held in high esteem by the Government.

Will the Minister accept that there is a serious difficulty in regard to youth organisations in that most of their full time officers are spending far too much of their time trying to find their own wages and expenses instead of being involved in pragmatic youth development work? Will the Minister accept that his Department are causing many youth organisations to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to finance their own people when they should be financed by his Department?

There is a certain amount of merit in what the Deputy has said. The prime consideration in the development of the youth policy is not to supplant the work these people are doing but to assist it. We will do that in the best way possible.