John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----better having been ill recently. Baby boxes for newborns are to be trialled in a pilot under First 5, the recently published whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their families. Piloting baby boxes is just one initiative which is part of a wide-ranging strategy addressing various aspects of the lives of children from birth to age five, including supports for parents to balance working and caring, developments in early learning and care and health initiatives. The gift of the baby box is intended as a welcome from the State for a new arrival to a family and an acknowledgement of this very significant moment for parents. The universal distribution of baby boxes also reflects an important equality principle that each child is given something of equal value at the start of their life.

As the Senator outlined, the concept originates in Finland and has been implemented in a number of other countries. It consists of a package of items to assist with the transition to parenthood. The pilot will undertake research and consultation to determine items for inclusion in the pack and these may include safety items, baby clothes and toys to support early development and books to foster a love of reading from infancy. The distribution of a baby box also offers the opportunity to communicate important child development and safety messages to parents and is an early opportunity to link families in with support services if they are required. This is consistent with the principle of progressive universalism whereby all families receive something universally, but where there are additional needs, extra supports are provided. Key objectives with the baby box and linked communications will include support for parent infant bonding, information on baby development and early learning, advice and support for breastfeeding and promotion of infant health and safety. At this point, it has not yet been determined whether the box will be designed for babies to sleep in. In other countries, as the Senator outlined, it can act as a crib for the first six months of a child’s life. The logistical issues with this and whether such a feature would be of value to parents will be questions for the scoping phase. Other options for design will also be considered.

Baby boxes will be piloted in parallel with book bags to support early literacy and the home learning environment. Book bags are packs with books for children and other resources to support reading and learning. It is intended that book bags would be made available free of charge to families with young children at key points in a child’s life such as infancy, the transition to preschool and the transition to primary school. The pilot of baby boxes and book bags will also address questions of how to facilitate distribution of these resources and the local service provision infrastructure that will be required to be configured to support this.