Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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93. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an outline of the value of the Growing Up In Ireland longitudinal survey in terms of policymaking across Government; when it is anticipated the new cohort will be created and how large this cohort will be; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36714/22]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I am substituting for my colleague, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. Can the Minister provide an outline of the value of the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal survey for policymaking across Government, when it is anticipated the new cohort will be created, how large this cohort will be, and if he will make a statement on this matter?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for the question and I am very excited that we are bringing forward a new, third, cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland, GUI, survey. GUI represents a significant and valuable State investment in high quality, policy-relevant data on the lives of children, young people and their families. To date, GUI has generated more than 90 reports and a multitude of findings. These have provided important evidence for policy and have been used extensively across Government and the wider public sector. GUI data are also used extensively across the higher education sector, facilitating scientific research here in Ireland, on a par with best practice in longitudinal research internationally.

A new GUI birth cohort will ensure the availability of robust evidence on the diverse life experiences of a new generation of babies, children and families in contemporary, post-pandemic Ireland. This evidence will support the implementation of the First 5 strategy and the development of a broad range of other policies and services. It will also support the ambitions of Impact 2030: Ireland's Research and Innovation Strategy, which seeks to maximise the impact of research on multiple national priorities.

A new model of delivery for GUI means that, from January 2023, responsibility for GUI data collection will transfer to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, while responsibility for the research aspects of GUI will transfer into my Department.

The new birth cohort will be established under this model, with a plan to start collecting data in 2024. The previous GUI birth cohort included 11,100 nine-month-olds and their parents. The new sample will be comparable in scale, relative to the number of nine-month-olds in the population and their diverse experiences.

Ireland's recently published EU Child Guarantee National Action Plan outlines the significant investment we make annually on vital services for children and young people. A new birth cohort will ensure that the ongoing provision and development of these services is informed by the best practice. I am delighted that so many Deputies have joined us to share our excitement in the new GUI cohort.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I agree with the Minister that we are all delighted with the new cohort and I very much welcome his answer. The very best form of policy is evidence-based. We can see that with the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study, which kicked off about 15 or 16 years ago, how important it has been in developing policy and in the operational and funding decisions by the Minister and his predecessors. Governments can often be accused of making policy on a whim. When one has data and the evidence such as in the Growing Up in Ireland study, that is not the case.

I want to pick up on two points. It seems appropriate that the responsibility would transfer to the CSO from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and to his Department also. Can the Minister elaborate on that, please, so we can learn more about the transfer? Can he also elaborate on the costs of the new cohort and the costs also of the longitudinal study in itself?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It is hard to overstate how important GUI is in terms of the scale of research. Interviewing of more than 11,000 people takes place. One group was 12, the other group was 22 and now there is this new group. This has been able to chart major developments. The first group would have been some of the first children to undertake the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme and was introduced in 2008-2009. We have been able to chart the difference that has made to them. Particularly during Covid-19, we have been able to do a number of snap surveys of the cohorts to assess the impact of Covid-19 on mental health, on general health and on educational attainment. We have been able to compare the pre- and post-Covid-19 results of that. Knowing the status of this large group of people before prior to Covid-19 has given us a real ability to acknowledge the impact of Covid-19 and to devise policy solutions to address those impacts.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I will be brief and I thank the Minister. I might ask him some supplementary questions in the time available which he might address. If he wishes to expand, he can provide a written answer. Can the Minister tell the House the plans he has to ensure that the Growing Up in Ireland survey data continues to be widely used as we go forward and how the Government and future governments can use the data to inform their work in the future also?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The overall cost of GUI for the next three years is just short of €14 million and €4 million of that will be dedicated towards that new cohort. The information will be publicised through a range of methods. There is an annual conference where research that has been undertaken on foot of the data is discussed. Each of the new reports is publicised widely so we have taken and used this data in a range of very valuable ways, both publicly, but also in terms of Government policymaking.