Government launches ‘Young Ireland: National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028’ at 2023 Child Summit

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The government has today (21 November) launched ‘Young Ireland: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People’, setting out the policy direction and key priorities for cross government action in respect of children and young people to the end of 2028. The Policy Framework was launched at the Child Summit in Croke Park, and follows on from Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, which ran from 2014 until 2020.

‘Young Ireland’ sets out current issues impacting children and young people, identified by them, and seeks to create an environment which ensures that children and young people are a central part of everyone’s agenda. It will include a specific spotlight programme to focus on the most significant challenges for children and young people, with resources from across Government. These issues are presented in Young Ireland as Spotlights and the first three spotlights will be on child poverty, mental health and wellbeing, and disability services.

‘Young Ireland’ has been developed through extensive consultation and engagement with children and young people, the general public, civil society, service providers, practitioners, government departments and State agencies. The Framework includes a full indicator set to track progress, this has been recently updated and is also launched today.

The launch is taking place at the first Child Summit since 2016, organised by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. This Summit will bring together over 250 delegates including young people to hear from national and international speakers including Dr. Philip Jaffé current member of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Committee.

Speakers and panellists will cover a wide range of issues concerning children and young people and discuss practical solutions to the highest priorities. Smaller roundtable sessions will provide an opportunity to explore some of the most pressing issues facing children and young people through a child rights impact lens.

Opening the summit, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said:

Speaking at the summit, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Roderic O’Gorman commented:

The aims of the Second Child Summit are to:

• fulfil Ireland’s commitment to awareness-raising regarding children’s rights among the public and promote the active involvement of children in public outreach activities
• highlight how the Young Ireland policy framework will address key recommendations of the UNCRC
• explore how Ireland can work better together in implementing effectively those international recommendations identified
• bring together young people, policy owners, civil society and other stakeholders to discuss practical solutions to the highest priorities
• be an important step towards mainstreaming child and a child rights-based approach to decision-making affecting children and on addressing inequality and discrimination
• showcase progress being made across government departments specifically with the example of the Department of Education
• introduce and get initial feedback on Child Rights Impact Assessments, a key component of the enabling environment of the framework and recommendation of the CRC
• promote a whole-of-government, cross-sectoral approach and delivering upon the ambitions encapsulated in the forthcoming Young Ireland: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028

Young Ireland: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (0-24) will cover the period 2023-2028.

This Framework:

• sets out current issues impacting children and young people, identified by them, as demonstrated by the Children and Young People’s Indicator Set and as recently highlighted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
• sets out work to create an environment to ensure that children and young people are a central part of everyone’s agenda
• announces spotlight programmes to focus on the most significant challenges for children and young people, with resources from across Government
• re-establishes governance structures where the State will work with civil society partners to provide renewed leadership and impetus to realise new and existing policy commitments
• identifies the priority areas requiring coordinated action across Government
• identifies a number of complementary actions to address issues that were identified during the development of this framework

Children and Young People’s Indicator Set

Over the lifetime of Young Ireland, Government intends to improve the lives and outcomes of children and young people across Ireland. In order to ensure that we can track progress in this area the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has developed an updated Children and Young People’s Indicator Set which is also launched today (previously the Better Outcome, Brighter Futures Indicator Set).

The Children and Young People's Indicator Set contains the same indicators as the BOBF indicator set, although in a small number of cases they have been updated to align with the new aims and outcomes of Young Ireland. Data for the indicators has been revised and updated for 2023.

Updates include the addition of a new indicator on e-cigarette usage, reflecting its current relevance. More information is provided for indicators and their sources, including information on the availability of disaggregated data, in particular for marginalised or disadvantaged groups, and the provision of open data. Finally, indicators are now assigned codes for easy reference.

The full indicator set can be found at: Children and Young People’s Indicator Set.

The Statistical Spotlight also published today collates available data from the Children and Young People’s indicator set outcome “Active and Healthy” and gives an international comparison.

The spotlight report shines a light on and collates a wide source of information on how children in Ireland are faring in terms of activity levels and health. The data will be updated periodically and this will allow policy makers and Government monitor progress on the health of our children and young people.

Some of the key findings from the report are:

• Ireland has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in Europe, with 40% of infants in Ireland breastfed at 3 months in 2021, compared to 60% in Europe overall
• Ireland has one of the highest rates of overweight and obesity among young people in Europe, with 31% of 15- to 24-year-olds overweight or obese in Ireland in 2019, compared to 22% in Europe overall
• Ireland’s death rate among children and young people is among the lowest in Europe: 23 deaths of 0- to 24-year-olds per 100,000 were recorded in Ireland in 2021, compared to 32 per 100,000 in Europe overall
• children in Ireland are among the most likely in Europe to meet national physical activity guidelines: 26% of 11- to 15-year-olds in Ireland met national physical activity guidelines (60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day) in 2018, compared to 16% in Europe overall
• children and young people in Ireland were among the most likely in Europe to participate in sports. 75% of 15- to 24-year-olds in Ireland participated in sport weekly in 2022, compared 66% in Europe overall
• children in Ireland are among the least likely in Europe to have ever drunk alcohol: 24% of 11- to 15-year-olds in Ireland had ever drunk alcohol, compared to 40% in Europe overall
• Ireland’s rate of teen births is considerably lower than the European average: 0.5 births to 0–17-year-olds per 1,000 female population were recorded in Ireland in 2021, compared to 1.6 per 1,000 in Europe overall