Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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552. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps she is taking to address child poverty here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31231/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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In recognition of the higher risks and life-long consequences of child poverty, the Government set a child-specific poverty target in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2014-2020 to reduce consistent child poverty by at least two-thirds by 2020. This figure currently represents 102,000 children.

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futuresis a whole of government policy framework, which requires all Departments and Agencies to work collaboratively to improve outcomes for children and young people. The Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium, which I chair, has responsibility for whole of government implementation, and includes representatives from all government Departments and Agencies.

The Department of Social Protection has the lead role in coordinating government strategies on child poverty. 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.

Officials in my Department are working closely with the Department of Social Protection in informing the development of this cross-sectoral priority.

Officials in the Department of Social Protection have co-convened a subgroup with members of the Advisory Council for Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures to progress solutions to child poverty.

In recognition of the fact that child poverty is a multi-faceted problem, this group also includes officials from other Departments, including the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Skills.

Led by the Department of Social Protection, this group has developed a paper which outlines a whole of government approach to tackling child poverty. This is based around the three pillars outlined in the EU Recommendation on Investing in Children:

- Access to adequate resources

- Access to affordable, quality services

- Children’s right to participate.

Key priorities arising from this include providing universal access to GP care for under 18s, reducing the cost of education, housing, affordable childcare, labour activation and provision of in-work benefits.

In line with this, my Department is developing a Single Affordable Childcare Scheme to provide families with quality childcare at a cost they can afford. Budget 2017 provided additional funding for the scheme’s development and initial roll-out, to include both a targeted and a universal element. Subsidies will be available for children aged from 6 months up to 15 years and will meet families’ full-time and part-time childcare needs, including outside of school hours and during school holiday time. The highest levels of subsidy will be provided to those on low incomes, helping families to overcome disadvantage and contribute to a reduction in child poverty.

The Advisory Council held a round table event on 22 June with a range of key experts and stakeholders. The learning from this event will inform the further alignment of efforts across government and from civil society.

My Department has also established a Children’s Equality Commission to ensure that the voices of children who experience or understand economic hardship or poverty are directly heard and acted on by policy-makers. The Commission will be comprised of Child Commissioners and Adult Commissioners. The Child Commissioners are children who experience or have an understanding of economic hardship or poverty. The Adult Commissioners will be senior policy makers from Government Departments, Stage agencies and other bodies relevant to the issues raised by children.

Consultations with relevant children and young people have been ongoing for some months. The findings from the work with the children and young people were discussed in detail at a closed meeting held on 22 June 2017 between Child and Adult Commissioners. The next phase of this process is now at design stage and details will be announced shortly.

I and my colleagues in Cabinet are committed to advancing these efforts and actions in our collective response to addressing child poverty.