Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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37. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to comments by the Ombudsman for Children's Office, the steps her Department is taking to ensure that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is fully implemented here, particularly that a child's right not to be discriminated against on any grounds is protected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33520/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department coordinates reporting of the actions of all Government Departments in relation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and it liaises with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Convention engages the areas of responsibility of various Departments spanning all the UNCRC’s general guiding principles, including that all the rights guaranteed by the Convention must be available to all children without discrimination of any kind.

My Department is fully committed to achieving maximum compliance with the provisions of the Convention. This is evidenced in the significant allocation of resources across a number of areas critical to realising children’s rights; for example in childcare, education, health, social protection and housing.

Following on from the examination of Ireland’s children’s rights record by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in January, my Department and the Children’s Rights Alliance hosted a joint symposium in September focusing on progressing implementation of the Committee’s recommendations. This is a clear indication of my Department’s commitment to implementing the Convention and its key principles.

The event brought together the many stakeholders involved, from members of the UN Committee, my Department and other relevant government Departments, state agencies as well as the Ombudsman for Children and civil society. The purpose of the event was to inform stakeholders of the contents of the Committee’s recommendations and provide a context for their implementation.

Most importantly it facilitated a discussion as to how the recommendations might be progressed through existing structures and frameworks, in particular through the implementation of commitments in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures; the National Policy Framework for children and young people 2014-2020. This Framework is providing a clear and comprehensive plan to progress and strengthen children’s rights and protections in Ireland.