Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 539: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action which is proposed in respect of the Childhood Development Initiative ten-year strategy; if he will detail the resources to be made available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29250/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the launch of the Tallaght west childhood development initiative, to which the Deputy refers. The initiative aims to improve significantly the lives of disadvantaged children living in Tallaght west, who are amongst our most vulnerable citizens.

The Deputy will be aware that the initiative follows on from a study published last year entitled 'How are our Kids?', based on a sample of 187 children drawn from 79 households in Tallaght West. The study found that families and children in the area are at a much higher risk of poverty than the national average and that this is due to a combination of factors including: levels of unemployment more than twice the national average; a high proportion of children leaving school early; and almost one in three of households headed by a lone parent. In addition, the area has a much greater proportion of persons under the age of 25 than the national average.

The childhood development initiative contains proposals across a range of policy areas including health, safety, education and child care. These proposals are designed to tackle the disadvantages experienced by young persons in the area and to increase their sense of community belonging.

I met Dr. Katherine Zappone, project leader for the initiative, during her development of the plan and expressed my support for policies which would improve the lives of children living in west Tallaght. Persons living in such areas can experience multiple forms of disadvantage, whose resolution requires co-ordinated and joined-up activity across all areas of Government, together with co-operation from the local community.

My Department is one of many public organisations providing services on the ground to persons in the Tallaght west area, designed to help unemployed persons to get into the work force and to provide income and other supports to those who are not in a position to work. In addition, the office for social inclusion, located in my Department, has responsibility for monitoring implementation of the national action against poverty and social exclusion. Eliminating child poverty is one of the key aims of the plan which contains a number of targets, across several policy areas, designed to break the cycle of disadvantage and exclusion experienced by certain children in society. Ending child poverty is also one of the special initiatives in the Sustaining Progress social partnership agreement.

My Department is currently considering with other Departments and agencies how best to respond to the opportunity presented by the childhood development initiative, including how to make the most efficient use of the significant resources which are currently targeted at the area. It will be important in this regard to ensure synergy with the work of other co-ordinating mechanisms already operating in the community. I am confident that, by taking a Government-wide approach to this issue, and by working closely with the local community, we can deliver comprehensive and innovative policy responses which will make a major contribution to ensuring that vulnerable families and their children have a fair share of life chances and quality of life.