Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I have asked my colleague to check why it was not brought down.

Dáil na nÓg 2007 met on 17 February. The two themes selected by the delegates were road safety and attitudes towards young people. Each Comhairle na nÓg elected one delegate to the Dáil na nÓg council to follow up the recommendations from Dáil na nÓg 2007. The work of the Dáil na nÓg council is jointly managed and supported by the OMC and the National Youth Council of Ireland. The council conducts research into the main recommendations from Dáil na nÓg and meets with key policy-makers with a view to implementing change for young people in these areas.

As part of its research into road safety, two Dáil na nÓg councillors attended the first UN road safety week in April, the theme of which was young road users. Another two councillors attended the World Health Organisation children's environmental health intergovernmental meeting and youth assembly in Vienna in June as part of the Irish Government delegation. The young councillors will make presentations on their findings to the Road Safety Authority, the Garda Síochána and the Oireachtas Committee on Transport to put forward recommendations on road safety education courses, vehicle safety measures and road safety legislation. They will meet with the Community Transportation Association of Ireland to offer feedback on its work on rural transportation and infrastructure.

The councillors are also working on the negative stereotyping of teenagers by the media, which was one of the major issues raised at Dáil na nÓg 2007. The young councillors conducted comprehensive research into newspaper coverage of the celebrations of junior certificate results. They will make presentations to the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the National Union of Journalists and newspaper, television and radio editors. They have also written an article for The Irish Times which will appear next week.

I had the opportunity to meet with the group when it was discussing road safety and media coverage. I was extremely impressed with the commitment and knowledge of its members and the urgency they attached to their deliberations, particularly with regard to media coverage and their anxiety to ensure this age cohort receives better coverage from the broadcast and print media than it has in recent years.

The delegates at Dáil na nÓg 2006 voted as their top priority the establishment of a website for teenagers providing information on activities, facilities, clubs and youth entertainment. In response to this demand, my office is in the process of completing construction and development of www.teenspace.ie, a national website on activities and facilities for young people. The site will go live in March 2008. Dáil na nÓg councillors and young people from my office's children and young people's forum have been involved at all stages in developing the site. Site branding and content will be linked to Teenspace, the national recreation policy for young people, which was launched in September 2007.

Effective student councils in second-level schools are cited in Towards 2016 as an innovative Government measure. My office is collaborating with the Department of Education and Science in overseeing the running of the new student council support service recommended in the final report of the student council working group established, chaired and managed by my office. Eleven second-level students aged between 13 and 17 were involved in this working group, marking a milestone in public policy making.

In a related initiative, my office has collaborated with the curriculum development unit in funding the development of a civic social and political education teaching and learning resource entitled Giving Children and Young People a Voice. This resource promotes the right of children and young people to a voice in matters that affect their lives under the National Children's Strategy and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It incorporates information about Dáil na nÓg and Comhairle na nÓg, and their potential links with student councils. The establishment or improvement of student councils is the main focus of the resource, which is currently being printed and will become the basis for the work of the student council support service.

In keeping with international good practice on involving children and young people in decision making, the office's children and young people's forum, CYPF, was established in 2004 to advise on issues of concern to children and young people. The forum includes 25 young people aged between 12 and 18 from all parts of the country who were nominated to the CYPF through Comhairle na nÓg and organisations representing hard to reach children and young people. The CYPF has been an invaluable resource for the office. Its members have been consulted on, or involved with, many initiatives including design and content of the national recreation policy, development of student council resources, health service provision for teenagers, the mid-term review of the national children's strategy, co-facilitating and organising national consultations with teenagers on alcohol misuse, development of aspects of the office website, www.omc.gov.ie and tender evaluation for relevant projects. Many organisations have consulted the CYPF, including the HSE, the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, the growing up in Ireland study team and the Irish Health Service Accreditation Board.

In February 2007, the then Minister with responsibility for children announced that a series of consultation workshops would be held with teenagers to seek their views on solutions to alcohol misuse by teenagers. This was in recognition that if alcohol misuse is to be addressed, young people will have to be part of the solution. Research in this area, such as the European school survey project on alcohol and other drugs and the health behaviour of school-going children, shows that binge drinking is a problem among many teenagers in Ireland and that Irish teenagers have a very high rate of alcohol consumption. In October, 257 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 years took part in a national consultation on alcohol misuse in five locations around the country. The response to the invitation to participate was overwhelming, which indicates a significant interest in youth participation and the issue of alcohol abuse. The consultations were framed to seek young people's views on the solutions to alcohol misuse. The CYPF was directly involved in the preparation, collection, analysis and compilation of information arising from the consultation. A report of these consultations is currently being prepared by my office. I had an opportunity to attend a consultation which took place in Dublin and was impressed at the level of participation and the significance attached by participants to the issue.

My office is firmly committed to improving young people's lives through research. Work undertaken in my office is based on goal No. 2 of the national children's strategy. The objectives of the programme are to build a more coherent understanding of children and young people's development and needs among those working with them, to develop an evidenced-based approach to decision making at all levels down to the point of delivery, to improve the communication, production and dissemination of research and information and to improve evaluation and monitoring of services.

I was delighted to launch Teenspace, the national recreation policy for young people, last September. This was the first time any Government brought forward a comprehensive policy about young people's recreational needs. The policy reflects in concrete terms our commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the national children's strategy. Essentially, the policy provides a strategic framework for the promotion of positive recreational opportunities aimed principally at young people aged 12 to 18 and includes seven core objectives. Each objective incorporates a series of corresponding actions for priority implementation by the various Departments and agencies which have a crucial role to play in delivery within the overall framework of the national policy.

There is no doubt that recreation is an essential childhood experience which enriches young people's lives. In the past, we often assumed that opportunities for these activities simply existed. However, the major changes experienced by this country in recent decades mean we can no longer make that assumption. Young people have been explaining to us the reasons we have not been getting it right. We need to understand that the way young people spend their free time has a major impact on their development, socialisation and future lives. Benefits of recreation include promoting self-esteem, well-being, freedom and independence; providing chances to let off steam and have fun; helping young people to be healthy and active; improving problem-solving capabilities; and a better perception of quality of life.

The national children's strategy identified the need for more opportunities for community based play, leisure and cultural activities. There has been considerable public investment in recreational activities in recent years. I welcome the funding provided by the Government and commend the many voluntary organisations which are actively involved in providing recreational and sporting facilities for people of all age groups.

The national recreational policy for young people is not merely about advancing new initiatives. It also involves a more integrated and strategic approach to investments already being made. The Government and many providers are aware that we can achieve more from existing funding streams if we collaborate across agencies in a more structured way. There is no doubt the policies and actions being pursued by my office will have an immense impact on the provision of better services and improved outcomes for young people. I look forward to hearing the views of Deputies on this motion.

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