Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 January 2021
254. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the research that has been or is being undertaken in relation to the impact of Covid-19 on children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3174/21]
View answerMy department monitors emerging research on the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people in Ireland, as well as internationally. In addition, my department has both commissioned and directly undertaken a range of research activities relating to the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people. Details of these research activities are as follows:
- * Published by the ESRI in July 2020, as part of the DCEDIY/ESRI Research Partnership, the report ‘Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for policy in relation to children and young people: A research review’ presents a critical synthesis of existing Irish and international research involving children and young people before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period as a basis for discussing the implications for policy development. For a copy of the report see: https://www.esri.ie/publications/the-implications-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-for-policy-in-relation-to-children-and-young
- * In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, three surveys for Growing Up in Ireland (GUI), the DCEDIY funded national longitudinal study of children, were in the field at the end of 2020. These surveys have collected data regarding the impact of COVID-19 from both parents and 13-year-olds from GUI Cohort ’08, and the 22-year-old GUI Cohort ’98. Because the GUI is a longitudinal survey, the findings can be linked to individual experiences pre-pandemic; it will also deepen and broaden what we know about the long-term impacts of the pandemic on children and young people. Data from these surveys will be published as quickly as possible in the coming months and will be made available to all bona fide researchers.
- * Launched in September 2020 the report, ‘How’s Your Head , details the findings of the national consultation with young people on their experiences of COVID-19. The consultation, in collaboration with SpunOut.ie, sought to understand the impact of COVID-19 on young people with specific focus on their mental health and wellbeing. The survey attracted 2,173 respondents aged 15-24, representing every county in Ireland. For a copy of the report see: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/91f4b-hows-your-head-young-voices-during-covid-19-september-2020/
- *My department undertook a programme of research in response to the COVID-19 closures and phased reopening of the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector. The research included:
- IPSOS MRBI were commissioned by the Department to undertake two waves of a household poll of 500 households with children.
- A survey was administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department to all 4,500 ELC and SAC providers.
- An open online Call for Submissions was issued by the Department, receiving 1916 responses.
In addition, a number of briefs on policy and financial responses in other jurisdictions were prepared. The purpose of this research was to inform policy in the childcare sector by capturing the views of the sector, and by trying to understand the demand for and availability of childcare services post-COVID-19.
- * Data collection exercises, including both interviews and focus groups, intended to gather information on parents’ experiences of parenting supports were undertaken recently. Included in the list of questions were a number concerning the impact of COVID-19 on these experiences.
- * Following a request from the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW), my department helped fund an online survey of social workers to capture the impact of COVID-19 on their work. The survey ran from 12th May to 29th June and a total of 456 responses were received. In addition to detailing the challenges faced by social workers, the findings also included concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on the children and families with whom social workers routinely interact. Full details of the findings from the survey are available on the IASW website: https://www.iasw.ie/IASW_SocialWork_Covid19Survey.
Combined, the research detailed above represents a significant effort on the part of my department to provide a diversity of insights into the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people, in both the near-term and the long-term. When taken in conjunction with work carried out independently of my department, I believe there is a large body of information emerging to inform policies that help to mitigate the worst impacts of COVID-19 on children and young people.
