My Department places a particular value on evidence - informed policy. The first ever National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland, Growing up in Ireland, is wholly funded and managed by my Department, with support from the Department of Social Protection and the Central Statistics Office. Findings from Growing Up in Ireland provide us with important evidence on children's lives across a range of outcomes, including health and diet, behaviour and development, as well as their home environment and the financial circumstance of their families. This evidence has relevance for a range of issues, across Government departments, and is likely to become increasingly used by Departments to inform future policy.
In addition to the research undertaken by my Department, the Department of Social Protection undertakes a range of research and monitoring activities, including monitoring the impact of budgetary measures, which focus on households with children and on child poverty. Collectively, this research and data provides an important resource for the policy system and departments, to support and inform decision-making.
While I welcome the fact that Growing Up in Ireland shows that the vast majority of Irish children are in good health and display low levels of behavioural difficulties, it also gives evidence of a social gradient in child outcomes relating to levels of social advantage, a gap that begins to emerge in early childhood. This evidence must be used to inform policy and guide what we do. Overweight and obesity have emerged as public health priorities and are being addressed through the Special Action Group established by the Department of Health and the Department of Social Protections' initiative 'Healthy Food for All', which promotes healthy eating and combats food poverty.
In my own Department, the introduction of the new Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme 2013-2016, which is building on the work of the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP), is a further demonstration of the Government's commitment to evidence based interventions for disadvantaged children and young people. We know that the home environment impacts on a whole range of child outcomes and that parenting plays an important role in mitigating the impact of poverty and disadvantage.
My Department is committed to continuing the Growing Up in Ireland Study, to provide high quality data on a whole range of child outcomes, and arrangements are underway to commission a second phase of the study to ensure that this rich data source is continued and built upon. The research from Growing Up in Ireland and other sources has been carefully utilised to inform the development of the National Children and Youth People's Policy Framework. Finalisation of this framework by my Department, in association with other Departments across Government, is at an advanced stage and it will inform the development of future policies and services to promote improved outcomes, with a particular focus on groups of children whose outcomes are currently poorest.
