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Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, today launched a public consultation on the forthcoming Children & Young People’s Policy Framework. The consultation will be open for the 4 weeks from 11th June - 6th July.

Speaking at today’s launch Minister Fitzgerald said:

I am delighted to launch this public consultation. When drawing-up new policies and plans, I believe it is vitally-important that Government listens to and is led by those we serve. In this case I want to hear from children, young people and parents but also from those practitioners and organisations who work so hard for Ireland’s children and young people.

The Framework will succeed the previous National Children’s Strategy and will set out the Government’s high level policy priorities for children and young people for the next 5 years.

Minister Fitzgerald continued:

The lives of Irish children and young people have changed significantly over the past decade. This framework will reflect these changes and will seek to respond to the cutting-edge issues affecting Irish childhood and youth, from economic pressures such as child poverty and youth unemployment to health problems such as the rise in childhood obesity to cultural influences such as the impact of new technologies, media and consumerism.

This stage of public consultation follows-on on from a previous focused consultation of 67,000 children and young people.

The public consultation is available for completion online at www.dcya.gov.ie/Consultation-2012

Minister Fitzgerald spoke to MerrionStreet.ie at the launch earlier this afternoon: