In recognition of the importance of leisure activities and their role in promoting and sustaining personal and community development, the new programme for Government builds on commitments given in the national children's strategy. The strategy, which is a significant Government ten year plan to improve the quality of all children's lives, includes a commitment to the development of play and recreation policies.
Approximately 2,500 children and 300 adults participated in a consultation process feeding into the preparation of the national children's strategy. The main issue raised by children in the consultation process was the lack of play and recreation facilities for children and young people. The deficit in the provision of public playgrounds was often highlighted. At the launch of the strategy, the Taoiseach announced that a national play and recreation policy would be developed to address this issue. The development and implementation of the new policy is one of the priority areas for attention by the National Children's Office.
The new policy will provide a framework for future development and will look at a range of issues, including: guiding principles; a partnership approach between the statutory, community, voluntary and private sectors; developing a play infrastructure; other issues including safety, public liability insurance and litigation matters; and funding arrangements. It is proposed to address the leisure needs of children up to 12 years of age in a national play policy and to deal with the wider range of recreational opportunities for teenagers in a national recreation policy.
There are a number of inputs to the development of these policies. These include advice from the National Children's Advisory Council, the establishment of a working group comprising key statutory and non-statutory agencies, a survey of public playground provision and the establishment of pilot projects to identify the issues likely to be encountered in providing a public play facilities of a high standard. Research into the influences on young people's recreational choices will also be undertaken. It is hoped to circulate a draft play policy for consultation in the autumn. The policy, including the financial implications and the identification of responsibility for implementation, will be submitted to Government for approval.
