Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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59. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her department plans any specific measures to give particular attention to vulnerable children in the Christmas period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40015/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, local duty social work teams will put in place arrangements to appropriately monitor and action cases, ensuring continuity of service to vulnerable children during the Christmas period.

Tusla also provides a range of services aimed at addressing emergency situations which arise out of hours. The Out of Hours Service is provided 365 days a year outside of normal office hours including Saturdays, Sundays and Bank holidays. This service can be contacted directly by An Garda Síochána, hospital staff or other professionals who have a concern regarding the safety and welfare of a child outside of normal office hours. Where a young person is referred or self refers out of office hours and are out of home and seeking accommodation, an initial social work assessment is carried out to ensure the safety and welfare of the young person. For a young person who is out of home who requires accommodation for the night, there are a number of placement options available suited to the child's age and vulnerability. An emergency placement may be provided until the next working day when the case can be referred to the local Tusla Social Work Department.

The aim of Emergency Out-of-Hours Social Work Services is to ensure that the disruption and upset to which children may be exposed in emergency situations is minimised and the rights of parents and guardians are respected.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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60. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures being taken by her Department regarding socially and economically disadvantaged young adults; her views on the levels of poverty and homelessness among young adults; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40121/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000.

The National Youth Strategy 2015-2020, published last October, sets out Government’s aims for young people, aged 10 to 24 years. The Strategy identifies some fifty priority actions to be delivered by Government departments, state agencies and by others, including the voluntary youth services over 2015 to 2017.

To achieve this aim, a number of objectives have been set in relation to each of the five national outcome areas. One of these is that “Young people are a particular focus in policies that address social inclusion and poverty”.

The Government set a child-specific poverty target in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures to reduce consistent child poverty by at least two-thirds by 2020. I chair the Policy Consortium that leads the work of Better Outcomes, Brighter Futuresto drive key actions, including those on child poverty. The Department of Social Protection has the lead role in coordinating government strategies on child poverty, and is the Sponsor Department for outcome four in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: that all children and young people should be enjoying economic security and opportunity. It also has lead responsibility for the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion and has identified child poverty as a key cross-sectoral priority to be addressed under Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. To progress this priority, I am advised by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection that his Department are working on developing an implementation plan for reaching the child poverty target in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. This should be finalised in time to go to the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures Consortium for approval in February 2017.

This plan was informed by officials from a number of departments, as well as from members of the Advisory Council for Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, which brings together key community and voluntary sector organisations, as well as independent experts with experience working with and for children and young people.

I am also advised by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, that the national social target for poverty reduction, which sets out the Government’s ambition for reducing and ultimately eliminating poverty, is to reduce consistent poverty to 2% or less by 2020, from the baseline rate of 6.3% in 2010. Since 1997 Ireland has developed national anti-poverty strategies to provide a strategic framework in which to tackle poverty and social exclusion. The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 was recently updated and extended to 2017.