Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012
99. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will list the 20% of actions from the National Children Strategy that have not been completed; and the reason that they have not been completed [56767/12]
View answerAs I stated in a reply to a Parliamentary Question on 25 October 2012, a review of the National Children's Strategy by the Children's Rights Alliance - an independent umbrella group of NGOs which campaign on behalf of children and youth rights - found that over 80% of the National Children's Strategy's 136 Actions have been either achieved or made some progress by February 2011.
The 23 actions which were not in this category (16.9% of the total) comprised 13 actions (9.6%) where the action had not been achieved at that date, and a further 10 actions (7.4%) where the Alliance stated that they "cannot measure program or context has changed and it is no longer valid or relevant".
The Alliance is completely independent of my Department and I would not be in a position to say how it might view subsequent progress. However I would note that there are actions where there has been significant progress since 2011, for example in the recent Budget announcement of €20.4m in Capital funding for the development of a National Detention Facility at Oberstown.
My Department is drafting a Children and Young Person Policy Framework, which will succeed the National Children's Strategy and has been subject to very extensive public consultation with children and youth organisations (including the Children's Rights Alliance), children and young people, and the general public, and this Framework will consider progress made under the National Children's Strategy.
