Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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68. To ask the Taoiseach to provide an update on the work of the child poverty and well-being unit of his Department. [26200/24]

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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70. To ask the Taoiseach to provide an update on the work carried out as part of Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Well-being 2023-25. [26202/24]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 70 together.

The Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office was established in the Department of the Taoiseach in 2023 to prioritise action across government in areas that will have the greatest impact for children and families experiencing poverty.

From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Well-being 2023-2025 was published last year and is the initial Programme Plan for the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office.

The Programme Plan takes a focused approached on six key areas which have the potential to bring about significant change for children and their families. These are:

1.Income supports and joblessness

2.Early learning and childcare

3.Reducing the cost of education

4.Family homelessness

5.Consolidating and integrating public health, family and parental assistance, and well-being services

6.Enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty

The Programme is intended to be a living and dynamic document. If we need to, we will revisit our priorities to make sure we are focusing on those things that will really make a difference.

The role of the Department of the Taoiseach is to co-ordinate and focus government action.

To help facilitate this, the Programme Office has established a Cross-Government Network on Child Poverty and Well-being. Three Network meetings have taken place to date.

The Office also hosted an inaugural Child Poverty and Well-being Summit on 23 May 2024 in Dublin Castle.

A summary report on the Summit will be published by the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in due course.

As well as focusing on the implementation of government commitments across the six key areas, the Office is undertaking a small number of strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of cross-government responses.

The first of these was a commitment to focusing on children and their families who are experiencing poverty in Budget 2024.

The Programme Office applied a cross-government approach, that culminated in the development of the report Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2024 to Reduce Child Poverty and Promote Well-being published in November 2023.

The Programme Office is building on this work and will seek to support and deepen the focus on child poverty and well-being in Budget 2025.

My vision for Ireland is a country where all children are given an equal chance, where we break down the barriers to education, where we give people the security of home ownership and the certainty of dignity in ill health and old age. A country where we realise a fair, caring, tolerant and diverse society, founded on the strong economy and full employment. We can underpin this societal aspiration by setting an overarching goal. Ending child poverty is that overarching goal and we will make Ireland the best country in Europe to be a child. This will be the guiding focus of everything I do.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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69. To ask the Taoiseach to provide an update on the proposed child poverty and well-being summit scheduled to take place this year. [26201/24]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I was delighted to host the Child Poverty and Well-being Summit on Thursday 23^rd May in Dublin Castle.

I welcomed the former UK Prime Minister and Chancellor the Right Honourable Gordon Brown, who shared what he had learned from his experience of reducing child poverty rates in the UK in his keynote address. My colleague Roderic O’ Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth also gave a keynote address.

Children’s participation was an important feature of the day and included an art exhibition, a specially written musical performance from Music Generation, and engagement with our Youth Advisory Group on Child Poverty and Well-being.

It was a pleasure to see the artistic contributions from children and young people and it was a highlight of my day to meet many of the children and young people on the day of the Summit.

The Summit itself had three objectives: to increase the focus on child poverty across government, take stock of progress and learning to date, and to inform future considerations.

To further that end, policymakers from across the public service were in attendance, as well as representatives from the non-Government sector and research organisations. A panel discussion took place in the morning and 17 innovative Case Clinics on realising the ambition of working together took place in the afternoon. Case Clinic topics were wide ranging and included preventing family homelessness, maximising the impact of social welfare payments, and improving educational outcomes for migrant children.

A summary report on the Summit will be published by the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in due course.

Further details about the Summit and the Report will be available on: www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/7c189-child-poverty-and-well-being-programme-office/