Vol. 533 No. 5
70 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason for the delay in submitting the periodic report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the protection afforded under Irish law to the rights guaranteed by the convention which was due to be submitted on 27 October 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9372/01]
Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on 21 September 1992. In accordance with article 44 of the convention, Ireland is required to present reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years. These reports must set out details of the protection afforded under Irish law to the rights guaranteed in the convention and detail how fully its provisions are being implemented. Ireland submitted its first national report to the committee in April 1996. That report was considered by the committee in Geneva on 12-13 January 1998.
The Deputy will be aware of the publication in November 2000 of Ireland's first ever national children's strategy. The strategy provides a co-ordinating framework for the future development of children's policy and services delivery, and identifies clear goals and objectives to be achieved for children over the next ten years. While Ireland's second report to the committee was due on 27 October 1999, it was felt that as work was under way in relation to the preparation of the national children's strategy, submission should await its publication, so that the latest developments could be reflected in the report.
The recently established National Children's Office, which was proposed in the strategy, will co-ordinate the drafting of Ireland's second report.
