Dinny McGinley
Question:103 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will consider family proofing Government policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17647/04]
View answerTuesday, 15 June 2004
Questions (57)
Written answers
The development of integrated policies to support families is one of my main priorities as Minister with responsibility for family affairs. It is my intention to provide for the ongoing development of such policies in a strategy for families and family life to be published before the end of this year, the tenth anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family. I intend that the strategy will set out the trends in regard to families and family life, the challenges to be faced, the appropriate strategies to meet these challenges, the measures to be taken to give effect to the strategies in the immediate term and the measures to be planned for in the longer term. It will include the institutional arrangements required to ensure the measures are implemented in an integrated effective manner.
I also envisage provision for monitoring implementation of the strategies, evaluating outcomes, adapting existing policies and programmes and, as necessary, developing new ones to ensure families can continue to function effectively at a time of profound change. The strategy will be based and will build on the report of the Commission on the Family and on the nation-wide consultation I undertook last year, which is still ongoing. Full account will be taken of the findings of the research carried out by the UN, OECD, and the Council of Europe, and not least the findings of the international conference hosted by the Irish Presidency in May entitled Families, Change and Social Policy in Europe, supported by the EU Commission. The report on this conference will be published shortly.
The Commission on the Family in its report recommended that consideration be given to provision for family impact assessments on Government policies and programmes, which would be akin to the family proofing of Government policies referred to by the Deputy. The Commission's proposal was based on recommendations in a 1995 UN publication entitled Indicative Guide for Action on Families. Family proofing or family impact assessments of Government policies could be useful tools for monitoring and evaluating relevant policies that affect families and, accordingly, their use will be examined in the context of drawing up the strategy.
Question No. 104 answered with QuestionNo. 87.
Question No. 105 answered with QuestionNo. 88.