Written answers

Thursday, 4 July 2013

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

EU Presidency Issues

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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20. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide a report of her Department's activities as part of the recent Presidency of the EU; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32602/13]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department led the work of the Council of Ministers for Youth during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU from January to June 2013.

The ambitious programme of work focussed on the social inclusion of young people which is the Trio Presidency theme (January 2013 – June 2014). My priorities related to the contribution of quality youth work to young people’s development, well-being and social inclusion and the potential contribution of youth work to youth employment.

Council Conclusions, adopted by the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on 16 May 2013 propose actions that will maximise the potential of youth policy in addressing the goals of Europe 2020. A second set of Conclusions, also adopted, highlight the importance of quality youth work as a tool for engagement with, and development of, young people.

These conclusions include a concrete set of measures aimed at raising the profile of youth work at EU level and mainstreaming youth work into broader EU policy responses to youth employment and social inclusions. These include establishing a new EU expert group on quality youth work; strengthening the working relationship between the Council of Ministers and other Council of Minister configurations; mainstreaming youth policy input into the European Semester reporting process; recognition of centrality of youth work in contributing to the Europe 2020 growth and jobs agenda; recognition of the role of youth work in implementing the Youth Guarantee; greater coordination between EU youth policy and education, training and employment policies.

As a follow-up to these Conclusions, I hosted a two day informal expert roundtable on 20 and 21 June which considered the contribution of youth work to youth employment. The outcome of the meeting, the Dublin Declaration, recognises the challenges facing young people in Europe as a result of the lack of jobs and work experience, as well as the challenges posed by the widening gap between skills being sought by certain employers and those held by many prospective employees. It also recognises that youth work can play a highly-relevant role in developing young people's skill-sets, in particular with respect to ‘soft’ skills such as learning to learn, social and civic competence, leadership, communication, teamwork, and entrepreneurship – all of which are highly-valued and sought-after by employers. The Declaration in particular notes the centrality of the role of quality youth work in the implementation of the Youth Guarantee by Member States.

The EU Youth Council’s work programme under Ireland’s Presidency was informed by the findings of widespread consultations with young people. Over 11,000 young people and youth organisations throughout Member States participated in consultations across Europe on the theme of Social Inclusion.

The EU Youth Conference which I hosted in Dublin on 11-12 March 2013 was a flagship event of Ireland’s Presidency Programme. Almost 250 people from across the EU attended the Conference, including 109 young people and youth representatives and 65 Ministry officials participating in workshops. The Conference was organised by my Department in partnership with the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). It was a major opportunity to showcase the talent and innovation of Ireland’s young people and the youth sector. Almost 100 young people were involved in supporting the Conference. They acted as volunteers and took on roles as guest MCs and speakers, and provided inputs through Arts and Drama presentations. Over the three days, some 25 information stands showcased the work underway in youth programmes in communities throughout the country.

The conclusions from this Conference informed Youth Ministers’ deliberations on quality youth work and will inform the structured dialogue consultations with young people during the Lithuanian and Greek Presidencies. The meeting of the Directors General for Youth hosted by my Department alongside the Conference explored the personal, social and economic impact of youth work.

The work undertaken under Ireland’s Presidency including the conclusions of the Ministers and the outcome of the expert group meeting provide the basis for an ambitious agenda which offers the potential to greatly enrich the European Union’s policy responses in the area supporting youth employment, in particular with respect to the potential of non-formal learning to reach out to those young people not in education, training and employment. My Department will continue to work with the Departments of Education, Social Protection, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to identify, in what ways, the youth sector can contribute to shared policy objectives to address youth employment and with European colleagues to progress this important agenda for Europe’s young people.

Also, as an associated Presidency event, I was pleased to support a conference on LGBT Youth and Social Inclusion which held in Croke Park on 17 June 2013. This event which was organised by BeLonG To brought together the main EU institutions and LGBT groups from Europe to discuss the areas of LGBT youth and education, employment, participation and rights and youth services. The conference was developed following findings from a Europe-wide consultation under the Irish Presidency which identified LGBT youth as one of the most socially excluded groups in Europe.

In the context of Ireland's Presidency, I should also note that I addressed the Confederation of Family Organisations of the European Union (COFACE) at their European Conference held in Dublin Castle in February to mark Ireland's EU Presidency. The Conference was brought to Dublin by the Irish Countrywomen's Association who are members of COFACE and was supported by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The conference theme was "Vulnerable Families _ What can Europe Do?".

As part of my Department's EU Presidency programme I also launched the UNICEF Report Card in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin in April. Following the launch I hosted a high-level EU roundtable discussion on “Moving forward to promote children’s well-being”.

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