Cecilia Keaveney
Ceist:95 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Health and Children the position in relation to the national children's strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19600/02]
Written Answers. - National Strategy for Children.
The national children's strategy, published by the Government in November 2000, provides for new arrangements which are intended to bring a better focus and greater impact to Government activity in relation to children through stronger leadership and co-ordination. These new arrangements, which are now in place, include the following. First, the Cabinet Committee on Children meets on a quarterly basis to review progress in implementing the strategy and to agree priorities for action. Second, there is a broader role for the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with special responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan. The Minister of State reports to the Cabinet committee on progress made in implementing the strategy.
Third, the National Children's Advisory Council has an independent advisory role in relation to the implementation of the strategy and provides advice to the Minister of State in that regard. The council maintains the partnership approach developed through the strategy to influencing policy on children's issues. It has a membership of 30 and includes representatives of the statutory agencies, voluntary sector, research community, parents and children.
Fourth, the National Children's Office leads and oversees implementation of the national children's strategy. This involves progressing actions under the three national goals of the strategy. These include children having a voice – greater participation and listening to children's views; children's lives will be better understood – improved information and research; and children will receive quality support and services.
There are two important aspects to the work of the National Children's Office. First, individual Departments retain responsibility for implementing the strategy and the office co-ordinates and monitors progress in this regard. Second, the office progresses actions under the three national goals of the strategy in regard to certain key policy issues identified by the Cabinet committee as priorities and which require cross-departmental action.
The Cabinet committee has assigned the lead role to the National Children's Office in three key policy areas which require cross-departmental action. These include co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Children Act, 2001, co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the national youth homelessness strategy and the development of national play and recreation policies. Substantial progress has been made to date in implementing the national children's strategy. Funding of £3.815 million has been provided to the National Children's Office in 2002 to support it in its role in the implementation of the strategy.
With regard to promoting the strategy at national level, progress in the three priority areas identified by the Cabinet committee includes the following. First, co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Children Act, 2001. The Cabinet committee decided that the National Children's Office should take the lead role in relation to co-ordinating the implementation of the Children Act, 2001. The office has established a working group for this purpose which comprises high level representation from this Department and the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Education and Science and their respective local level agencies. The working group meets regularly to review progress in implementing the Act and to bring forward further proposals for implementation. Progress reports were submitted by the working group to the Cabinet committee in March and September this year. To date, the Cabinet committee has approved proposals prepared by the working group relating to the provisions of the Act to be commenced in 2002 and 2003. The first commencement order under the Act came into force on 1 May 2002.
Second, the National Children's Office has been assigned responsibility by the Cabinet committee in relation to co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the national youth homelessness strategy, which was published in late 2001. The health boards have lead responsibility for implementation of the strategy and they have prepared detailed action plans in this regard. These plans are to be phased in over 2002-04. The National Children's Office is setting up a monitoring committee, representative of the relevant stakeholders, which will hold its first meeting shortly.
Third, regarding developing national play and recreation policies, it is proposed to address the play needs of children under 12 years of age in a national policy. It is hoped to submit the play policy to Government by the end of the year. The recreation needs of older children will follow next year and research to inform the national recreation policy is currently out to tender.
The holding of an annual Dáil na nÓg was identified in the strategy as a measure to support the first national goal of the strategy that children will have a voice. The first Dáil na nÓg took place on Wednesday, 5 September 2001 in the Mansion House, Dublin. Dáil na nÓg 2002 took place on Friday, 11 October 2002 at the same venue and, as in 2001, over 200 children between the ages of eight years and 17 years, representative of every county and socio-economic group, attended. The event was hosted by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with special responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan. Over 155 of the delegates to Dáil na nÓg 2002 were selected by the county and city development boards, many of them through a local Comhairle na nÓg. The remaining delegates were nominated to represent minority groups.
The agenda for Dáil na nÓg 2002 included debates on the environment and on drug and alcohol abuse, and included a 30 minute question time where the Minister of State, Deputy Lenihan, responded to questions put down by the delegates on children's issues. A report of Dáil na nÓg 2002 is close to finalisation and will be circulated shortly.
With regard to research, on 5 April 2002, the then Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs and the former Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Hanafin, jointly announced the decision of the Government to establish Ireland's first long-term study of children growing up in this country. A longitudinal study was identified in the strategy as a key measure to achieve the national goal that children's lives will be better understood. The study will monitor the development of 18,000 children from different backgrounds – 10,000 from birth and 8,000 nine year olds – through to adulthood, yielding important information about each significant transition throughout their young lives. It will seek to identify the circumstances which allow children to thrive and those which hinder children's development. A request for tender to carry out the study is due to be published in 2002.
Earlier this year, the former Minister of State with special responsibility for children, Deputy Hanafin, invited applications for the 2002 national children's strategy research awards. Funding of €200,000 is being provided for new projects. One masters scholarship, two doctoral scholarships and one post doctoral fellowship have been awarded to commence in the academic year 2002-03. This recent round of the fellowship programme builds on the two scholarships awarded last year, which will be completed in 2003 and 2004.
With regard to promoting the strategy at local level, city and county development boards, CDBs, have been identified as the key bodies to lead implementation of the strategy at local level by ensuring that children's issues, as identified in the strategy, are addressed in their strategies for economic, social and cultural development. Children's participation in the development of these strategies has been highlighted as an important aspect of these local plans. A number of the local strategies, already published, have identified their role in the implementation of the national children's strategy. A number of CDBs around the country have developed local play policies in anticipation of the national initiative referred to earlier and Comhairle na nÓg has been established in most CDB areas to give children a voice at local level and to select/elect delegates for Dáil na nÓg.
A series of nationwide visits by the Minister of State with special responsibility for children and officials of the National Children's Office commenced in February 2001. The purpose of these fora was to promote the strategy among children, families and local communities and to build their support and involvement in the implementation of the national children's strategy. Six fora were held and a total of some 1,500 people, including children, attended to hear about the strategy.