Tá an-áthas orm go bhfuil Seanad Éireann chun díospóireachta a dhéanamh ar an straitéis seo.
It is not surprising the Seanad should choose to have statements on this issue because in various debates during the past year or so Senators have shown a great interest in the national children's strategy. I am particularly pleased that today we will focus on the elements included in the strategy and the progress being made. I thank the Seanad for putting this matter on the agenda.
The national children's strategy, Our Children – Their Lives, was launched in November 2000 by the Taoiseach. It is a major Government initiative to improve the quality of children's lives. It is an agenda for action over the next ten years. It is comprehensive and challenges all of us to work with children to improve their lives.
The launch of the strategy is the strongest possible demonstration of the Government's commitment to Ireland's children. It is a very clear statement of support to parents, local communities and everyone who works with children. The strategy is a major initiative in progressing Ireland's implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
A key element to drive the change is a major reform of how the Government manages services for children, involving everyone from the child to the Taoiseach. Action is being taken at national and local level to bring a new focus to children's issues. For the first time ever a Minister with responsibility for children has been appointed and my purpose in that position is to ensure the national children's strategy is implemented. Work has commenced on the implementation of the strategy and I am determined that this strategy will be implemented in full to improve the lives of all the children in this country.
The national children's strategy is a tremendously important and innovative Irish social policy development and I am delighted to have been personally involved with it from the earliest stages. It addresses the needs of all children up to the age of 18. The challenge has been to draw a wide range of issues together into a coherent plan for action and to give leadership at national level for responding to the needs of children. In view of the complexity of the task, an interdepartmental group, comprised of assistant secretaries general from eight key Departments and a legal adviser from the Office of the Attorney General, was established to oversee the development of the national children's strategy. The work of the interdepartmental group was supported by a cross-departmental team, established under the strategic management initiative, comprised of officials from four Departments and an adviser from the Centre for Child Care Research, Queen's University, Belfast.
Two expert panels were established, a research and information group and a non-governmental service providers' group, to provide advice and guidance in the preparation of the strategy. A health board liaison group was established and meetings were held with the county managers of the local government authorities and the education partners. We have all worked together to develop the strategy. Equally important is that involvement of all these groups in its preparation means they are signed up to its delivery.
The most exciting part of the preparation process was the public consultation. A report of the public consultation process was published in September 2000, prior to publication of the strategy. Submissions were sought from the public. Some 316 submissions were received from private individuals, service providing organisations, pro fessional personnel in the health, child care, education and related fields and State bodies.
A critically important aspect of the consultation process, which I initiated and am proud to have been involved with, was to listen to what children and young people had to say. A total of 2,488 children participated in the consultation process. Involving children in such a direct way from the very beginning was a major innovation in the formulation of Government policy. It is an innovation that has attracted a lot of interest, both in Ireland and internationally. One of the key themes to emerge from the letters, e-mails, school visits, public meetings and an outing I had on "The Den" with Dustin was the need for more play and leisure facilities. The children grasped the opportunity to have a voice and to give their opinions. Children love living in Ireland today but they recognise that more needs to be done, particularly for some key groups of children.
A number of clear messages emerged from the consultation process. We need to help children to enjoy their childhood while at the same time preparing them to be good adults. There is a real need to draw together and co-ordinate all the activities taking place and give a clear direction for the future. We listened to what the experts said and took on board the views of the wider public, particularly the views of children themselves. This is reflected in the national children's strategy.
The strategy maps out a better way for everybody to work together for and with children. It achieves this by identifying a new co-ordinating framework for action, the purpose of which is to guide all our future efforts in terms of how we plan and manage the delivery of services to children and their families. That framework involves a vision underpinned by six principles that will guide all future actions; the whole child perspective, which provides a more complete picture of children's lives and the relationships they enjoy; three national goals – children will have a voice, children will be better understood and children will benefit from quality supports and services; and new structural arrangements to ensure implementation.
All this is set out in the strategy which, for the first time, included a children's version when published. The development of this strategy and the consultation document in a form suitable for children shows a commitment and new direction in providing documentation which children can understand and take ownership of and of which they can feel part.
I will now summarise the actions that have already been taken in the implementation of the strategy. If we are to maintain a focus on children, we must have a unifying vision towards which we can all work. The vision that we want to aspire to is as follows: an Ireland where children are respected as young citizens with a valued contribution to make and a voice of their own, where all children are cherished and supported by fam ily and the wider society, where they enjoy a fulfilling childhood and realise their potential. The strategy is underpinned by six core principles that will guide all actions taken under the strategy. They are, therefore, very important. All measures will be child-centred, family-oriented, equitable, inclusive, action-oriented and integrated.
We have all recognised the need for better co-ordination between Departments and agencies providing services to children. Everybody has good intentions and does good work but each is only working from his or her own angle. The national children's strategy puts forward a whole child perspective, which provides a more complete understanding of children's lives, of the relationships which shape their lives and of the supports and services they need to sustain and develop them into adulthood. An important element of the whole child perspective is the recognition of the child as active participant.
Our examination of the implications of adopting this whole child perspective has led to the identification of three clear goals. The first national goal is that children will have a voice in matters which affect them and their views will be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity. Giving children a voice is a core principle of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Giving children a voice in this way is important for a number of reasons: the child is a member of our society in his or her own right; every child should be supported to enjoy his or her childhood; involvement supports them in preparing for adulthood; children are major users of services; and, in the past, we did not listen to children and they suffered the consequences. We are asking all groups, agencies and clubs which work with children to give children a voice.
The Government is giving a lead through a series of measures, the most novel one being the establishment of Dáil na nÓg where children from all over the country will have their voices heard at national level. The other key measure, which will have a major impact in the future, will be the establishment of the Office of Ombudsman for Children. We want children's voices to be heard in respect of planning and the provision of facilities for play and recreation, health issues through the health boards and school through the schools councils. The legislation concerning the Ombudsman for Children has been cleared for publication by Government. I hope it will be published over the next week or so and I intend to start the debate on that in the Seanad and progress the establishment of the office.
The first Dáil na nÓg took place on Wednesday, 5 September 2001 in the Mansion House, Dublin. Over 240 children between the ages of eight years and 17 years, representative of every county and socio-economic group, attended. The Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, attended Dáil na nÓg to observe this historic inaugural session and to listen to participants speaking about the issues relevant to their lives. The Taoiseach was presented with a short report on the day's proceedings by the cathaoirleach of Dáil na nÓg. An independent evaluation of the first Dáil na nÓg has been undertaken and a report will be published in the near future. A report of the proceedings has also been discussed at the Cabinet sub-committee on children, with a view to trying to implement some of the ideas of the children directly in Government policy.
Every county development board has been asked to hold a local dáil na n'óg or comhairle na n'óg in its area, which will feed into the 2002 national Dáil na nÓg. Each local comhairle na n'óg will nominate children to attend the national Dáil na nÓg. A number have taken place throughout the country and on 15 February we will be holding one with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Board with the support of the National Children's Office. The other county development boards have been invited to attend to observe the proceedings to encourage them to hold a comhairle or dáil in their own areas. Funding will be made available to the county development boards for this purpose.
We will be giving children a voice at national level and down to local level. However, giving them a voice is not enough, we need to listen to them and understand them. A key issue that emerged during the preparation of the strategy was the limited empirical data and research-based understanding of children's lives. It was difficult to pull together a comprehensive picture of the state of children in Ireland today simply because the information is not available or the quality of the information is unreliable. Without proper information and research on what is effective, the task of developing policy and providing effective supports and services for children is compromised. To address this, a number of measures are proposed under the second national goal for children, "Children and their lives will be better understood; their lives will benefit from evaluation research and information on their needs, rights and the effectiveness of services."
The aim of this goal is to achieve a better understanding of how children grow up in Ireland. The key measures proposed include a national longitudinal study of children, which we will use to track how a large sample of children progress through the stages of infancy and childhood through to adulthood. As one will expect, this will be a major long-term project. Following a tendering process, the contract for the design brief for the longitudinal study was awarded to the Consortium of Researchers in Ireland, the membership of which is drawn from a large cross-section of the Irish research community. Work on the design brief has been completed and proposals on the commencement of the study will be submitted to the Government shortly.
In addition, other measures are to be taken to improve our information and research knowledge, including the establishment of a children's research programme and the publication of a report on the state of the nation's children. The aim of the report is to provide a regularly updated statement of children's well-being. The other important measure to be taken is the establishment of a national children's research dissemination unit. If research on best practice is to be translated into action on the ground, it is important that that information is passed down to practitioners who are working with children. The new research dissemination unit will undertake this task.
Two national children's strategy doctoral fellowships have been awarded commencing in the academic year 2001-2002 under the children's research programme. The fellowships are worth £10,000 each per annum, plus university fees. The two research projects chosen for the last academic year are playtime in schools and youth suicide. Having listened to children's views and understood their needs we must act.
The third national goal is that children will receive quality supports and services to promote all aspects of their development. There are 14 objectives under this national goal, which is inevitable given the broad range of children's needs. The measures to be taken under each of these are set out in the document. These inevitably reflect many of the current measures. As the strategy is implemented and the measures under the first two goals, in particular, start to have effect we should expect to see changes. The Government will continue to give priority to certain key groups focusing on child poverty, children with disabilities, Traveller children, children in crisis coming before the courts and homeless children. For the first time in a Government document, one of the specific targets is the elimination of child poverty. We are committed also to developing prevention and early intervention services.
One of the key issues which arose from the consultation process was the need for more play and leisure activities. Throughout the country young people highlighted that they had no playground, no leisure facilities, no alternatives to the pub. The Government committed at the launch of the strategy to the development and funding of a national play and recreation policy. Work has commenced on the development of this policy and a working group has been established to progress the work.
The Government is also committed to continuing its efforts to improve the integration of services on the ground so that they are more easily accessed by families and children. Working groups have been established to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of the Children Act, 2001, and the national youth homelessness strategy. Each of these is cross-departmental.
The strategy is not just aims and hopes, it is a real plan which is being delivered by new structures, involving everybody from the child to the Taoiseach. The new structures, which will improve the focus on children and support better outcomes for them through stronger leadership and co-ordinated activity, have been put in place. The Taoiseach chairs a Cabinet committee for children, which meets on a quarterly basis to review progress in implementing the strategy and to agree priorities for action. The Cabinet committee on children met three times in 2001. I have been appointed in a broader role as Minister for children and I am responsible for overseeing implementation of the strategy and co-ordinating Government policy on children. I report progress to the Cabinet committee.
The National Children's Office has been established to support me in the implementation of the strategy. While Government Departments retain responsibility for implementing the strategy, the office co-ordinates and monitors progress in this regard. The office is now taking the lead role in a number of key policy areas. These include co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Children Act, 2001, and the national youth homelessness strategy as well as developing a national play and recreation policy.
The National Children's Advisory Council has an independent advisory role in relation to the implementation of the strategy and reports to me. The inaugural meeting of the National Children's Advisory Council took place on 15 May 2001 and it has held six meetings in total since its establishment. The council, which has a membership of 30, includes representatives of the statutory agencies, voluntary sector, research community, parents and children.
It is noteworthy that, for the first time on a Government board, there are three child representatives on the National Children's Advisory Council. They are three teenagers from Dublin, Tipperary and Leitrim. Each of them is coming from a different perspective and challenging the traditional way in which Government boards have worked. At the first meeting of the council, I proposed two priorities to be addressed – the voice of children and play and recreation. These areas were agreed by the council and working groups have been established to address them.
The national children's strategy must be implemented at local as well as national level. I have been promoting the strategy among families, children and local communities through a series of nationwide visits. I have visited five locations around the country and I will be visiting Tralee on 1 March. Each visit commenced with a visit to a local school and an interview with local radio. This was followed by a forum for community groups, parents and local statutory bodies and the day concluded with a special forum for children and young people.
The city and county development boards are identified as the key bodies to lead implementation of the strategy at local level by ensuring that children's issues, as identified in the strategy, are addressed in their strategies for economic, social and cultural development. Children's participation in the development of these strategies has been highlighted as an important aspect of these local plans. The city and county development boards have been issued with presentation packs on the national children's strategy to encourage them to further promote the strategy at local level.
The National Children's Office is currently working with a number of CDBs advising them on how their strategies for economic, social and cultural development will ensure the implementation at local level. I also hope to see the further development of school councils, so that children can have their voice at school level and that the health boards also will ensure the children in their care will be listened to where it is most important.
The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, originally planned for 19 to 21 September 2001, was postponed following the tragic events of 11 September. I was due to attend and address this session. The special session will now take place from 8 to 10 May 2002. I am still due to address this session but, given the dates, I am not sure that I will be able to do so this year. The National Children's Office is, however, undertaking the preparatory work. As part of the preparations, an end of decade report to review the progress made since the last world summit on children in 1990 was published on 27 November 2001 and presented to UNICEF.
The National Children's Office and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform represented Ireland at the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Yokohama, Japan from 17 to 20 December 2001, and at the Council of Europe preparatory conference, which was held in Budapest in November 2001. The World Congress adopted the Yokohama Global Commitment 2001 which re-affirms the declaration and agenda for action adopted in Stockholm in 1996. It is also encouraging to see other countries adopting a national children's strategy. There has been particular interest in our strategy from the other members of the European Community and from our colleagues in Australia and New Zealand, who have used our strategy as a model for their own.
It is my belief that the national children's strategy maps out a more focused and better way of doing things for all our children. The proposals in the strategy are designed to do this. As the Senators will see, the structures necessary for the implementation of the strategy are now in place. Work has commenced on its implementation. I will continue to work to ensure that this strategy is implemented in full. However, I cannot do that on my own. We must all work together to ensure that children enjoy a fulfilling childhood and realise their potential.
Má chuirtear gach rud ins an straitéis seo i bhfeidhm tá mé lán-chinnte go bhfeicfimid, i gceann naoi mbliana nó mar sin, difríocht dhearfach i saolta pháistí na tíre.