Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this issue on inequalities for young people, who believe they are seen in a negative light by adults. They see their treatment at the hands of adults as being unequal and unfair, according to a report published on 22 February, Inequality and the Stereotyping of Young People, by the Equality Authority and the National Youth Council of Ireland. Among young people, the research found, there was strong agreement that they were being stereotyped and treated unfairly by adults in general. It found the media were regarded as particularly prone to stereotyping young people in very negative ways by constantly associating youth with crime, deviance, delinquency, drug and alcohol problems, sexual promiscuity and general disorderliness. The predominant view of young people was that politicians dismissed them as being unimportant. There was a view that politicians were both responding to media stereotyping and helping to fuel it. The views of young people as to how their teachers perceived and treated them were mixed. The young people in general felt most strongly about not being listened to and not having a say in how schools were run. They perceived that there was a poor relationship with the Garda and that gardaí had a poor opinion of young people.

There is a need to consult young people on the issues that relate to them and to involve them in decisions. It does not come as a surprise to me that this attitude exists. I have always argued that young people now face pressures that previous generations never knew of. They are coping with many forms of stress and are many are in difficulty because of those pressures. We must examine why young people sometimes feel so alienated from society, from the political system and official religion — even though most young people are very spiritual. Many turn to binge drinking or worse as a response to their feelings of alienation and the spiritual vacuum often present in modern life. This demands a political and a media response. In seeking to find solutions to the problems facing young people, however, we must be sensitive to the possibility of negative stereotyping and seek to avoid it.

Suicide is the chief cause of death in people under 25, and more people die by suicide than in road accidents. We must seriously examine why so many young people in times of unprecedented prosperity are so disenchanted by life that thousands present in accident and emergency departments each year, having attempted to commit suicide. Social change has brought with it many serious challenges. There is the fragmentation of the family allied to an increase in marriage breakdown. Young people believe they have nowhere to turn. Clearly, those who fall out of education are most vulnerable. At the same time many of the cultural icons and authority figures of the past are no longer inspirational in the eyes of the young, such as the church and the political establishment. The report, which the House discussed tonight, makes this clear, too. It is worrying that young people should feel so separated from adults when the role of each generation should be to lead and protect the one that comes after it. It is also of great concern that young people feel demonised by society. As a society, we should seek to understand why. Politically we must demonstrate the will to recognise the equal rights of young people to develop a greater sensitivity to their particular needs.

The report recommends investment in new improved resources for young people at local level. It calls for improved working of school councils and an improved focus on stereotyping of young people on training programmes for the Garda, journalists, teachers and security staff in shopping centres. The report also recommends the establishment and monitoring of standards by the proposed press council and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, as regards media coverage of young people.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Neville for raising this important matter and for drawing the attention of the House to this report.

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform I welcome the publication of the report which provides an important insight into the inequality and the stereotyping of young people today as perceived by the young people themselves. This research involved a large number of children and young people who took part in the focus groups which formed one of the two main strands upon which the report was based — the other strand being the content analysis of media sources as they related to young people.

The Minister is of the view that this report will be of interest to all groups who engage with young people. One of the recommendations was addressed to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It asked the Department to review the provisions of the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004 whereby the age ground applies only to people over 18. The Minister does not, however, agree that there is an urgent need to extend the provisions of the Equal Status Acts on the age ground to people under 18. The reason for excluding under-18s from claiming discrimination on the age ground is that 18 is a standard cut-off age for access to many services. It is the age of majority, the age at which contractual commitments are fully enforceable, the age for sale of drink, the age for access to certain films etc. It would be impractical to extend the age ground to under-18s as this would necessitate the provision of an extraordinary number of exemptions within the legislation and entail the revisiting of virtually every area of the Equal Status Act. It would also mean that, in principle, it would no longer be permissible to give any preference, such as reduced prices, to young people.

Under section 3(3) of the Equal Status Act 2000, a person who is less than 18 cannot bring a claim of discrimination on the age ground. Equally, a person who is 18 or over cannot bring a claim of discrimination on the age ground which is based on a comparison with a person aged less than 18, for example, an adult cannot seek children's fare on a bus. The Minister is emphatic however, that the Act applies to discrimination against under-18s based on the other eight grounds. It is, therefore, possible for a young person to bring a claim of discrimination or harassment based on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, membership of the Traveller community etc. It is not correct to say that the Act excludes young people.

The Government has already amended the Equal Status Act twice to make changes in the way it impacts on young people. It clarified the law as regards the regulation of access to licensed premises by persons under 18 years of age and the conditions under which it is permissible to set an age limit higher than 18 years for the purchase of liquor. The Government also amended the Equal Status Act to apply it to discrimination on the age ground in the provision of motor vehicle insurance to drivers under 18 years of age. It has shown that it is prepared to consider well founded proposals for changes to equality legislation. However, a general application of the age ground to persons under 18 would not be practical.

The role of protection of the rights and interests of children and young people under 18 resides with the Ombudsman for Children established under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 and not with the Equal Status Acts. The role of the Ombudsman for Children covers three main areas, the first being the promotion of children's rights, the second dealing with complaints and investigations and the third the carrying out of research and inquiries.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is of the opinion that a better approach would be the one already identified in the report, which is a focus on the role the media have to play in creating negative stereotyping and its recommendations in this regard to the National Union of Journalists and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The Minister imagines that any code of practice for the press could also usefully address this point.

The report makes the case that the media has a particular responsibility to take care in its portrayal of groups, such as young people, that have limited influence and power in society. However, stereotyping is not something created by legislation and neither would legislation against it have any success in stopping it.

A key Government strategy is the recent bringing together of the key personnel of the relevant sections in the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science and Justice, Equality and Law Reform under the new Office of the Minister for Children. The aim is to focus on the harmonisation of policy issues as they affect children and young people. The Minister of State specifically represents young people's interests. This demonstrates the Government's commitment to understanding the importance of children and young people's contribution.