Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to develop strategies that improve self-esteem and promote positive body imaging among young adolescents. [7273/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Self esteem and body image are key concerns for young people. The "Report of a Survey on Young People's Body Image" which I launched in 2012, marked an important milestone in giving young people a voice on this very important issue for them. This survey was carried out directly on foot of a key recommendation from Dáil na nÓg 2010, a representative forum for young people which is overseen by my Department.

At the Dáil na nÓg 2010 assembly, the delegates considered the importance of body image to teenagers' mental health. Noting the lack of national data on teenagers' body image, they decided that this was an issue worth researching. The survey was completed by 2,156 young people and gives new insights into how teenagers perceive themselves in an area of critical importance to their mental health. The Survey found that body image is a burning issue for young people in Ireland with 77% of participants ranking body image as important to them. 57% of the young people surveyed expressed some level of satisfaction with their body image which means 43% were dissatisfied.

The promotion of self esteem and a positive body image in young people is a complex issue requiring inputs from a wide range of stake-holders including parents, schools, the media, commercial organisations and the Health Service Executive (HSE) through its Health Promotion Programmes. My Department supports the National Youth Health Programme which is a partnership between my Department, the National Youth Council of Ireland and the HSE. The programme aims to provide a broad-based, flexible health promotion / education support and training service to youth organisations and to all those working with young people in out-of-school settings.

This work is achieved through the development of programmes and interventions specifically for and with youth organisations throughout the country and the provision of training support for workers and volunteers who implement these programmes. The issue of self esteem and body image is addressed as part of a holistic approach to health. It is covered under the Mindout Mental Health Promotion training and resource pack delivered to youth organisations. The training is based on the resource Mindout which was developed by Health Promotion HSE West and NUI Galway. Mindout is a twelve session mental health programme which takes a positive approach to the promotion of emotional and mental health among young people, looking at the ways they cope, ranging from personal coping skills to informal networks of support to professional or voluntary support services. Mindout adopts a universal mental health promotion approach which has strong links with the "Support for all" element of the recent guidelines on Mental Health Promotion for Schools published by the HSE, Department of Education and Skills and the National Office for Suicide Prevention.

The National Youth Health Programme also offers a Specialist Certificate in Youth Health Promotion. This programme is accredited by NUI Galway and adopts a whole organisational approach to health promotion. It focuses on a holistic model of an individual's health and youth work as a valuable setting for health promotion. Further actions naturally extend beyond the remit of my Department. My Department is currently leading the preparation of a new Children and Young People's Policy Framework which will represent a whole of Government approach to addressing issues affecting children and young people including their well-being.

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the progress made by her Department in the preparation of a Children and Young Person Policy Framework; when she expects that the drafting work will conclude; when she intends publishing the framework; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7311/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department is developing a new strategy for children and young people. It will build on Our Children - Their Lives, Ireland’s first children’s strategy which was published in 2000 and it will cover the 5-year period from 2013 to 2017.

In keeping with my Department’s responsibilities for children and young people, the new Children and Young People’s Policy Framework is being developed in a holistic way which will comprehend the continuum of the life-course from infancy through to early and middle childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. It will be the overarching Framework under which policy and services for children and young people will be developed and implemented in the State.

The views of a wide range of interests including children themselves will shape the development of the Policy Framework and it will be informed by the following inputs:

- the results of a consultation in 2011, which focussed on children and young people, in which almost 67,000 people throughout the country participated, the analysis of which was published recently;

- a public consultation of the general public conducted during the Summer. Over 1,000 submissions were received as part of that consultation. An analyst contracted by my Department is in the process of analysing these submissions and this process is expected to be completed in April;

- the advice of the National Children’s Advisory Council which represents a range of statutory and non-statutory organisations working with children and young people. The Council will continue to advise my Department on the Framework until a draft is submitted to Government; and

- the views of the National Children’s Strategy Implementation Group which includes nominees of Government departments and State agencies which develop policies and deliver services for children and young people.

My Department is also in the course of meeting with other Government Departments to discuss aspects of the Framework which will impact particularly on their areas of policy responsibility. This process is expected to be completed by the end of next month and, on completion of the analysis of the public consultation, the Policy Framework is expected to be finalised and published in the middle of this year.