On 27 March, Dáil na nÓg will be hosted by the Ceann Comhairle, returning to the Dáil Chamber at Leinster House with 165 delegates nominated from the 31 Comhairle na nÓg across Ireland.
Dáil na nÓg is a biennial youth parliament made up of young people between the ages of 12 and 18 years. This year, Dáil na nÓg will debate issues put forward by young people across the country for Government action and reach a final vote on one single issue to progress over the coming two years.
Background
Dáil na nÓg is an important forum for children and young people to bring issues of concern to policymakers. The first iteration of Dáil na nÓg took place in 2001 in the Mansion House and it remains an important element in fulfilling our commitments to include the voice of children and young people in decision making.
A preparation workshop for this year's Dáil na nÓg was held on 24 February, where nominees from each comhairle broke down the broad issue of mental health into distinct policy areas. The 40 nominees in attendance heard a presentation on mental health services and policy positions, with the aim of providing delegates with sufficient information to form their views, in line with guidance from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Dáil na nÓg is an initiative of the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, will be open this year's session with an address to the delegation.
Themes
During their annual youth conferences, each local Comhairle na nÓg asked young people from their local area to identify an issue of importance to them and on which they would like the Government to act. The topics most often chosen fell within a broad theme of mental health and comhairlí worked to establish the top three issues within this theme. The most important themes emerged as:
- Mental health services
- Body image
- School stress
These themes will be debated during Dáil na nÓg and delegates will ultimately vote to select one of these topics for the incoming national executive to work on. The executive will comprise 31 young people, one from each comhairle, and the work will be done during a two-year term between 2024 and 2026.
This year's Dáil na nÓg is hosted by the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people at the Department of Health, Deputy Mary Butler, will be present for the debate and respond to the topic selection.