Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the date on which she will publish the report on consultations with children living in the care of the State; the methodology used for these consultations; the number of children who engaged in this process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19891/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I will launch Listen to Our Voices! Hearing Children and Young People Living in the Care of the State in Ireland on Wednesday, 27th July 2011. From January to December 2010, the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) conducted a consultation process with children living in the care of the State. 211 children and young people took part in the consultations. The participants ranged in age from 8 years to young people who have left the care system and are over 18. Fifteen consultations were held in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Sligo. A separate parallel process for young people with moderate to severe disabilities was also conducted in Dublin, Meath and Galway.

The consultations were run in an informal, open and safe manner. Creative methodologies and tools were devised to enable children and young people to express their views. These tools included lifelines, body maps, workshops and feedback sessions, as well as a variety of voting mechanisms where young people had the opportunity to identify their priority issues. Arts and crafts-based activities were used for the younger age groups and with young people with intellectual disabilities. A Youth Advisory Group (YAG) made up of young people from a variety of care settings was established to advise on the consultation methodology, sit on the Consultation Oversight Committee and attend the consultations.