James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is aware that every Department has a budget allocated to it according to the resources available to the country. This is, and has always been, the reality. For the Deputy to try to pretend that somehow we can have unlimited resources in one area and disregard all other areas is neither pragmatic nor credible.

I thank Deputy McLellan for her support for the Bill. She also raised some issues. The theme of isolation has come up and my officials and I are aware of it. We are discussing it with EPIC and will work towards addressing it. My Department funds a number of programmes focusing on prevention and early intervention, including the Preparing for Life project mentioned. Research emerging from these programmes will inform future policy and development.

The Bill is another step in the right direction and will achieve better outcomes for young people. A critical change which has occurred during recent years is the insistence on the involvement of young people in planning services for them. I commend the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on being a world first with its children and young people's participation hub, ensuring the voice of young people is heard. My job at Cabinet as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is both to ensure my colleagues, when they are developing policy that can impact on children and young people, are aware of this participation hub and to ensure young people's voices are heard. I commend the Bill to the House. I thank the Deputies for their observations and look forward to taking it to Committee Stage.

See this speech in context