asked the Minister for Labour when the long-promised Government youth policy will be published; and the reason it has taken the Government three years to publish the youth policy which was promised in 1981.
Written Answers. - National Youth Policy.
17.
The Government will honour their commitment in the national plan to publish a national youth policy in 1985. Because of the wide range of issues covered and the extensive consultations with all interested parties, the formulation of a comprehensive youth policy has taken some time to complete. The exercise involved initially preparation and publication of a discussion document which was followed by the establishment of a national youth policy committee.
The work of the committee extended over a period of a year and the publication of the committee's report was followed by the submission of views from all interested parties on the recommendations of the committee and debates in both Houses of the Oireachtas on the report. The purpose of all these consultations has been to prepare a policy based on the findings of the report which would reflect the largest possible degree of consensus. Finally, of course, consideration of the draft policy by the Government is necessary and that consideration will be completed very shortly.