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The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Ms. Frances Fitzgerald, TD has today announced new funding opportunities for research on children’s lives. This initiative is being led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs under the National Children’s Research Programme, in partnership with the Family Support Agency, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Minister Fitzgerald made this announcement at an event to launch new national guidance for developing ethical research projects involving children.  

The call for research proposals covers a wide range of topics identified as critical in plugging research gaps, including those identified in the recently published National Strategy for Research and Data on Children’s Lives 2011-2016. Among these are research on: school-readiness; sexualisation and commercialisation of children; issues affecting children in contact with juvenile justice services and the impact of the youth café initiative, which is funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. In addition, the Family Support Agency will be supporting a number of exciting research projects including the use of data emerging from the ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ study to analyse the diversity of family forms in Ireland and the impact on children of the labour force status of their parents.

Minister Fitzgerald stated: “My Department is currently engaged in a comprehensive and ambitious policy development programme. Good policy depends on good research. We need to understand our children – their lives, their circumstances, their needs and the services and supports they require. Research is crucial”.

“The areas prioritised for research include a number of vitally-important and cutting-edge issues affecting children and young people in contemporary Ireland”.

“I am confident that each of these ambitious projects will deliver a wealth of quality research to inform and guide our future work in these important policy areas. I encourage the research community to take full advantage of this funding opportunity and I look forward to receiving the findings of these research studies in due course”.

Minister Fitzgerald also launched the new national guidance for developing ethical research projects involving children.  

The National Guidance for Developing Ethical Research Projects Involving Children was developed by an expert Working Group established by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and chaired by Dr. Anne Cleary (UCD). The document provides a very useful guidance for researchers on the complex web of ethical issues that can arise at each stage of the research journey, including issues such as informed consent and assent, confidentiality and anonymity and child protection.

Speaking at today’s event, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD said: “research has the potential to improve children’s lives by strengthening the evidence base for policy development and service delivery. But research can also, however, carry some risks.  It is critical that our pursuits to better understand our children should never compromise them. For this reason, it gives me great pleasure to be associated with this very important document, which sets out guidance for undertaking ethical research projects with children”.

A full download of the National Guidance for Developing Ethical Research Projects Involving Children can be accessed at