Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 February 2022
179. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the new actions that his Department will carry out in response to the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures Annual Report 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8740/22]
View answerThe sixth and final Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures Annual Report, alongside the Indicator Set, demonstrated that we have made strong progress in our efforts to meet the needs and aspirations of children and young people living in Ireland. I am committed to further strengthening and sustaining our efforts, building on achievements and addressing some of the enduring problems that adversely affect children's lives.
My Department is now working on the successor national policy framework which will run from 2023-2028. On the 27th January, I launched a public consultation giving children and young people, parents, practitioners and others working with children and young people, as well as the wider public, the opportunity to input into the successor framework. This consultation seeks general views on what is going well in children and young people's lives, and what is not going well. This is the first public consultation on the new framework, which will be followed by more targeted consultations in the coming months.
The new policy framework will be developed to incorporate the EU Child Guarantee National Action Plan, which I will bring to government shortly. The plan will address a number of critical matters: securing free access to early childhood education and care; education; healthcare for children in need; healthy nutrition; and adequate housing.
With a strong focus on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and having regard to the government's wellbeing framework, the new framework will be one which can promote social progress and better standards of life and deliver the special care and assistance due to all children, particularly the most vulnerable.
