Young Ireland - Policy Framework

Young Ireland is Ireland’s policy framework for children and young people up to the age of 24 and covers the period from 2023-2028.

Young Ireland was launched by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman T.D. late last year. Its vision is to make Ireland a country where the rights of all children and young people are fully recognised and respected.

Click here to read the National Policy Framework and here to explore publications relating to Young Ireland.

• A policy framework is a set of guidelines regulations or principles established by governments to guide decision-making and implementation strategies.
• This policy framework provides a direction for everyone working in government, so we can better coordinate our work to improve the lives of children and young people. It joins up work across many government departments and state agencies, like Tusla - the Child and Family Agency and the HSE, so we can work more effectively together on shared challenges.

Children and young people are the future of Ireland, but they’re also its present. While most children and young people are doing well, we know from recent data and evidence, as well as from young people themselves, that there are big issues where not enough progress has been made. This framework provides a focus on those issues that affect children and young people in Ireland today.

In 1992 Ireland signed up to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a major international human rights treaty that sets out the specific rights of children. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends that governments develop a comprehensive national strategy which provides a focus to address the needs of all children and takes into account all areas of the Convention. The Young Ireland framework has been developed using a child rights approach and with the principles of the UNCRC in mind.

• Over the last ten years, many government departments and agencies have consulted children and young people about decisions that affect them.
• To develop Young Ireland, the government studied recent consultations, and commissioned the ‘What WE Think’ suite of reports studying the views of 1,215 children aged 4-13, and 46 young people about their lives in Ireland.
• Young Ireland was also informed by specific, targeted consultations with groups of children and young people who may not have been consulted before.
• The framework is grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and takes into account the recent feedback of the experts on the UN Committee on Ireland’s progress implementing the Convention.
• It is also based on recent data and evidence about the issues facing children and young people.
• A public consultation on the framework received 236 online survey responses and 43 written submissions, which also fed into the development.
• Finally, we consulted professionals in and outside of government, many of whom contributed their expertise across the development of the framework.

• Young Ireland identifies some of the biggest challenges facing children and young people, as identified in recent data and evidence, and by young people themselves.
• Young Ireland aims to address those challenges and make it easier for all children and young people to access their rights. It sets out how we’ll make significant, measurable progress to improve outcomes in these areas over the next five years.
• It also aims to improve how we consider children and young people’s rights when we make decisions that affect them.
• Finally, we will make children’s rights accessible and easy to understand for everyone across Ireland, especially those whose work has an impact on children.

It’s clear from the data and evidence, from professionals, and most importantly from children and young people themselves that there are some critical issues that seriously impact the rights of children and young people. These are issues that require a number of different areas to work together to make progress. The current Spotlight areas are:

• Child Poverty;

• Child and Youth Mental Health and Well-being; and

• Disability Services for Children and Young People.

The purpose of the Young Ireland Spotlights is to:

• Address significant areas of concern for children, young people and their families, particularly those which have long term consequences for well-being.
• Deepen and enhance cross-government responses to key areas of challenge in order to enhance the state’s responsiveness to children’s lives.
• Bring together expertise and focus on making a measurable, sustainable difference in the lives of children and young people.

A key underpinning assumption for the Spotlights is that providing enhanced focus on a specific important issue and deepening cross-government ownership of a shared outcome objective will enable the State to more effectively meet the needs of children and young people.

Young Ireland contains robust governance structures to hold government to account for our commitments to children and young people. These structures involve children and young people; experts and those working in this sector; policy-makers across government; and political leadership.

Young Ireland Advisory Council

The Young Ireland Advisory Council will give independent advice and support on policies that affect children and young people. Its members will be people with experience of the issues that Young Ireland is trying to address, through their work or in their own lives.

The Advisory Council will have a work programme each year, outlining the areas that they will focus on. This will line up with the work of the Children and Young People’s Policy Forum, to make sure that the advice and feedback from the Advisory Council is brought forward to senior officials and managers in the appropriate agencies.

As part of the work plan, the Advisory Council will review progress on Child Poverty, Mental Health, and Disability Services. They will also look at other policies under Young Ireland, like First Five, the Participation of Children and Young People in Decision Making Action Plan, the National Model of Parenting Support Services, the Youth Services Strategy, and the core actions under Young Ireland’s Enabling Environment.

The Advisory Council and the Policy Forum will work alongside one another, and the Chair and two other members of the Advisory Council will also sit on the Policy Forum. This will mean that there will be a direct link between the two committees, so the expert advice from the Advisory Council can be shared easily with the Policy Forum.

To find out about the membership of the Advisory Council/more about the Advisory Council, click here.

Policy Forum

The Children and Young People’s Policy Forum will oversee and support implementation of policies impacting children and young people in their respective spheres of responsibility across government departments, agencies, and sectors. The Forum may also establish interdepartmental or interagency subgroups to address specific cross-Government issues arising during the lifetime of Young Ireland. The Children and Young People’s Policy Forum will be chaired by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with a Deputy Chair from the Department of the Taoiseach. Membership will consist of senior officials from relevant departments and agencies, as well as the Chair and representatives of the Young Ireland Advisory Council.

The Policy Forum will meet two to three times every year. In these meetings, an agenda will help the group to discuss particular areas in detail, including how challenges can be resolved in these areas. The Forum will be charged with driving the implementation of the actions and goals of Young Ireland in their respective departments and agencies, and driving progress on Young Ireland’s Spotlights.

Cabinet Committee on Children, Education and Disability

• Cabinet Committees are committees which are established by government to assist it in carrying out the responsibilities of government and which derive their authority and privileges from government.
• Cabinet Committees have a membership comprising two or more members of government and may also include the Attorney General and Ministers of State.
• The Cabinet Committee on Children, Education and Disability oversees Programme for Government commitments relating to children, education and disability.
• It receives detailed reports on policy areas such as child poverty and well-being, local area disadvantage and the reform of disability services and can act to make decisions.
• All Young Ireland governance structures ultimately report to this Cabinet Committee, and it provides overall direction for the implementation of Young Ireland.
• Its membership includes the Taoiseach; Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence; Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; Minister for Education; Minister for Health; Minister for Social Protection and other government ministers.