Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This framework plays a vital role in supporting Departments, agencies and organisations to improve their practices in listening to children and young people and to facilitate their voices being heard in decision making. Children cannot be the priority if their needs and concerns are not represented by the voices that are being heard. This framework is underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the national strategy on children and young people's participation in decision making. Children and young people need to have a meaningful voice in decision making, not least to help us better develop and evaluate evidence-based policies.

Just this week, I raised with an Taoiseach the issue of a child who needed a home adaptation grant because of a disability. The child faced significant barriers because there is no policy in this regard. An assessment was carried out by an adult occupational health therapist when it should have been done by a children's occupational therapist. These are the barriers we seem to be facing. Children are not just small adults; they are developing human beings who deserve to be treated with priority by every Department. Will the Minister detail the progress on the implementation of the national participation framework for children and young people's participation in decision making since its announcement, particularly as it has now been used across Departments?

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