Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

On behalf of my Labour Party colleagues, I add to the congratulations to Senator Ross. The award is well-deserved.

New research to be published today by the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Brian Lenihan, concerns a local study that was carried out by the Tallaght west childhood development initiative. The research has relevance and broader application to communities throughout Ireland. Basically, it involved a study of the concerns of 140 fifth class children and what they thought should be done to address them. The big issue for them was anti-social behaviour. The research has shown that children even at that young age are concerned and disturbed by anti-social behaviour. The research demonstrates the wisdom that can come from the mouths of children and the importance of making them central to policy making and consulting with them about issues such as anti-social behaviour. The measures these children feel are necessary to address anti-social behaviour are common sense approaches and do not involve anything like anti-social behaviour orders. Rather, they involve investing in communities, providing facilities, including play facilities, making neighbourhoods safe and providing resources to schools. It would be very interesting if the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, could discuss this research in the House in the future.