Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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828. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of interdepartmental meetings his officials have held with other Departments about services for children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32810/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department engages on an ongoing basis with other Departments with regard to services for children. Interdepartmental engagement takes place at a variety of levels ranging from day-to-day contact between my officials and counterparts in other Departments, up to high level interdepartmental groups addressing issues of national importance.

It is not feasible to quantify all meetings between officials at all levels given the number and scale of these formal and informal engagements. By way of example, the Deputy may wish to note that this Department has engaged with other Departments on the following matters:-

- Establishment of the Child and Family Agency

- Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children

- Draft legislation by this and other Departments

- The Area-Based Childhood (ABC) Programme

- The “Growing Up in Ireland” study

- Guardian ad Litemservices

- National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision–Making

- The National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence

- Policy, legislation and service delivery for the children detention schools

- HIQA business plan/corporate plan

- Homelessness

- The Early Years Strategy

- Obesity

- School Attendance

This is by no means an exhaustive list. It serves to reflect our values as expressed in our Statement of Strategy that we will “collaborate and innovate across the organisation and with other departments, agencies and sectors to improve outcomes for children and young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable”.

The Deputy may also wish to note that Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2014-2020, was launched on 16 April 2014 and it is the first overarching national policy framework comprehending the age ranges spanning children and young people (0 – 24 years). It represents a whole of Government approach comprising 163 commitments, runs from 2014 - 2020 and will accommodate a number of constituent strategies. The Framework sets out and centralises common outcomes, it captures policy commitments, prioritises key transformational goals necessitating action and aims to ensure an innovative and effective way of working. The document also identifies Departmental leaders and stakeholders with regard to those commitments and I expect that, as such, it will require and generate a considerable number of meetings and discussions. As such it provides a roadmap for future interdepartmental engagement with regard to services for children and young people.