€50 k to give Laois young people a 'strong voice'

Laois County Council has set aside €50,000 to develop the Laois youth council to be a strong and inclusive voice for the county’s young people.

The local authority has recently invited bids for a contract to support Laois Comhairle na nÓg which is one of the youth councils operating in Ireland’s 31 local authority areas. The council says the purpose of Comhairle is to give young people the opportunity to have a voice and be involved in the development of local services and policies.

The council says Laois Comhairle na nÓg is a local ‘Youth Council’ of young people, aged between 12 and 18 years, elected from the three Municipal District areas in Laois.

Bidders have been informed that the group of young people has a mandate from the delegates who attend the Laois Comhairle AGM in October/ November each year, to work on issues raised and discussed by them at the AGM.

The council says the primary aim of this project is to continue to develop Laois Comhairle na nÓg “into a strong inclusive, collective voice” for young people across Laois by:

• Supporting the implementation of the Laois Comhairle na nÓg Annual Work Plan, which is a plan developed from issues and topics as identified by the young people themselves.
• Continuing to build on Laois Comhairle na nÓg as a consultative forum and facilitating the interaction of Comhairle with policy makers and service developers locally and nationally to ensure that the views of young people are included in shaping policies and services.

Comhairle na nÓg is led at national level by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs under the National Children’s Strategy (2000), with funding being administered through POBAL. At the local level, responsibility rests with each Local Authority.

Those interested in providing the service have been informed that there is a group of young people in place with which they can begin work immediately.

Laois County Council says it manages the delivery of the project by way of financial control to ensure that payments are subject to the achievement of specific outcomes and objectives set out in the annual work plan.

Laois Comhairle Steering Group oversees the work of the Comhairle with the role of advising and assisting the Comhairle throughout the year.