C&Y: Republic of Ireland

The Situation in Brief

The Republic of Ireland has made progress in recent years in acknowledging and addressing children’s issues. Ireland signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child in 1992 and developed a National Children’s Strategy in 2000. Provision for children was previously spread across multiple government departments, but since 2005 the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is tasked with implementing the strategy and bringing greater coherence to policymaking for children’s issues.

However, positive steps that have been taken in good economic times are being eroded since the onset of the economic crisis. Despite a relatively benign policy environment, policy implementation to date has been poor, services are fragmented and do not meet the needs of all children and families, and issues such as poverty and early school leaving remain significant problems. Ireland still has one of the lowest levels of provision for early childhood education and care, and mental health, family support, and other preventive programmes for young people are chronically underfunded. Moreover family support services tend to be reactive and patchy and the resources invested in schools addressing disadvantage do not appear to be yielding consistent or better outcomes.

To meet the needs of all children and youth there is a need to support advocacy for the widespread adoption of evidence-based practices that focus on early intervention and the provision of timely and high quality services.

Children & Youth Programme Goals in the Republic of Ireland

• Promote the value of prevention and early intervention in the lives of children and young people, and increase the evidence base for effective service delivery
• Advance children’s rights and full implementation of the UN Convention, by supporting advocacy and campaigns, building alliances, and developing youth leadership and civic engagement

Children & Youth Resources

• Barnardos, http://www.barnardos.ie/
• Children's Rights Alliance, http://www.childrensrights.ie/
• End Child Poverty Coalition, http://www.endchildpoverty.ie/
• Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, http://www.omc.gov.ie/
• The Ombudsman for Children, http://www.oco.ie/

Facts at a Glance

• Ireland has one of the highest rates of income poverty in the category of ‘Very High Human Development’ countries, ranking third highest out of twenty-five in the 2009 United Nations Human Development Index.¹
• Approximately 6.3% of all children in Ireland in 2008 were “in consistent poverty”.²
• Approximately 18% of all children in Ireland in 2008 were “at risk of poverty” – the official EU definition of income poverty.³
• In 2008, just over 185,000 children were living in households where the income was less than 60% of national median income.⁴
• Some 12% of children leave school early (after Junior Certificate), 14% leave school without a Leaving Certificate (high school diploma) and 2% leave with no qualification at all.⁵
• The unemployment rate (July to September 2009) for all those aged between 15 and 64 who had completed lower secondary level (Junior Certificate) was 19.2%. The average unemployment rate was 12.9%.⁶ 
  

Footnotes

1. Source: 2009 United Nations Human Development Index

2. Source: Central Statistics Office (2008) EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions

3. Source: Central Statistics Office (2008) EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions

4. Source: Central Statistics Office (2008) EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions

5. Source: Economic & Social Research Institute (2008), School Leavers’ Survey Report 2007

6. CSO, Quarterly National Household Survey, Quarter 3 2009, 16 December 2009