Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Last year, my Department published a Blueprint for the next National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, which set out the approach we are taking to developing the Framework, and the aims it will set out to achieve.

The new policy framework will address all children and young people aged 0-24, covering the period 2023 to 2028. It will focus on realising children's rights, strongly aligned to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which Ireland ratified in 1992. It will be informed by the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child which held its hearing in Geneva on 24th and 25th January, which I attended along with officials from my Department and across Government.

The Framework will aim to place the rights and wellbeing of children and young people at the centre of decision making. It will raise awareness of children's rights and the role we all have in supporting them, and it will spotlight the most challenging issues facing children and young people, and make progress in these areas through time-bound Cross-Government programmes.

We are developing the content of this new framework informed by published data on the issues for children and young people, and an extensive consultation process. In addition to the 'What We Think' series of reports covering the views of over a thousand children and young people about their lives, we have published a report on our own open, public consultation conducted early last year, and consulted more specifically with vulnerable groups of children and young people whose views may not have been specifically sought before. We also recognise the importance of those working with children and young people to the Framework's success; the Children's Rights Alliance held a series of consultations on our behalf with civil society organisations and we are also consulting professionals from Tusla and other Agencies.

All Departments have a role in ensuring that the rights and wellbeing of children and young people are considered in policymaking, and actions to improve outcomes for children extend across Government. Officials from my Department have convened a Government Reference Panel, and are also meeting each Department separately, to discuss how the framework can support them to achieve their goals for children and young people.

My Department expects to publish the new Framework in the first half of this year.