Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2021
362. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current and capital costs involved with each action item in the Interim Climate Action Plan under his Department’s responsibility. [32694/21]
View answerAction 228a of the Interim Climate action Plan requires the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth to establish a Youth Climate Council as part of the new National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA) engagement model and annual Climate Action Plan consultations, to help support future dialogue with young people.
Steps are being taken to establish the Youth Climate assembly in partnership with relevant policy departments. Capital costs are not anticipated and current costs associated with hosting the Youth Assembly will depend on whether the assembly meets online or in person, which cannot be determined at the moment.
DCEDIY has completed the Youth Strand of the 2021 National Dialogue on Climate Action. Members of the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive assisted in the design of broad online climate conversations open to all citizens (over 16 years of age), to ensure its relevance and accessibility to young people. DCEDIY ensured that all Comhairle na nÓg members, over 16 years of age, were actively encouraged to take part in this National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA). DCEDIY designed and facilitated climate conversations specifically for young people and hosted in-depth local and national youth climate conversations to input into the National Dialogue.
The voice of young people is included in the NDCA by:
Broad Online Conversation: Young people over 16 years of age participated in the Broad Online Conversation for individuals over 16 years of age and groups. DCEDIY ensured the inclusion of young people by facilitating consultations with the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive on the design of the online survey to make it accessible for young people. The online portal is based on 5 key climate relevant pillars, with questions to capture current thinking, an online quiz to capture people's willingness to change behaviour and supporting content to engage citizens on proposed future approaches. All Comhairle na nÓg across the country were invited and encouraged to participate in this on-line process; information was also issued to the recipient organisations of the DCEDIY Youth Climate Justice Fund encouraging their participation in this on-line element.
Local level conversations via Comhairle na nÓg networks: Young people were asked to contribute via the Comhairle na nÓg network with their observations and suggestions for local action. Following a selection process, 12 Comhairle na nÓg hosted in-depth locally focused conversations. The design of these local level climate conversations was developed with the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive. The Youth Climate Conversations at local level provided an opportunity for members of Comhairle na nÓg to meet up online for a structured conversation about their hopes and concerns, ideas for climate action in their local area, and how to support deeper youth engagement in climate issues. Their feedback will be integrated into the summary ‘climate conversations’ report.
In depth Citizen Conversations (80-90 citizens): A two week online community for participants was set up to host a series of focus groups on different topics. As part of this online citizen community, there was a youth strand of 20 young citizens. DCEDIY assisted in the selection of young participants from Comhairle na nÓg nominees, Youth Climate Justice Fund recipients and a representative from the Irish Second-Level Students Union.
