United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Ireland’s Consolidated
Third and Fourth Reports
to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
on the implementation of the above as required under
Article 44 of the Convention
JULY 2013
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH AFFAIRS
Copyright © Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, 2013
Department of Children and Youth Affairs
43-49 Mespil Road
Dublin 4
Tel: +353 (0)1 647 3000
Fax: +353 (0)1 667 0826
E-mail:
Web: www.dcya.ie
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permission in writing of the copyright holder.
For rights of translation or reproduction, applications should be made to
the Head of Communications, Department of Children and Youth Affairs,
43-49 Mespil Road, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Contents
Minister’s Foreword v
Acknowledgements vi
Acronyms used vii
List of Tables ix
Introduction 1
Background to the current report 1
Concluding observations and summary of progress 4
1. General Measures of Implementation 33
A. Measures taken to harmonise national law and policy with the provisions of
the UN Convention and Optional Protocols 33
B. Steps taken to adopt and implement a comprehensive National Children’s
Strategy within the framework of the UN Convention 38
C. Coordination of the implementation of the Convention and Optional Protocols 39
D. Budgetary allocation for the implementation of the UN Convention and
Optional Protocols 41
E. International Assistance and Development Aid related to the Convention 42
F. National Human Rights Institutions 44
G. Disseminating information on the UN Convention (children and adults) 46
H. Dissemination of State Reports and Concluding Comments of the UN Committee
to the public, civil society, business organisations, labour unions, religious organisations and others 48
I. Plans to disseminate the current State Report and Concluding Comments of
the UN Committee to the public 48
J. Cooperation with civil society organisations (including NGOs and children
and youth groups) 49
2. Definition of the Child 50
A. Minimum legal age definitions 50
3. General Principles 53
A. Non-Discrimination 53
B. The Best Interests of the Child 55
C. The Right to Life, Survival and Development 58
D. Respect for the Views of the Child 61
4. Civil Rights and Freedoms 67
A. Birth Registration, Name and Nationality 67
B. Preservation of Identity 67
C. Freedom of Expression, and the Right to Seek, Receive, Impart Information 67
D. Freedom of Thought, Consciousness and Religion 68
E. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly 69
F. Protection of privacy and protection of the image 69
G. Access to information from a diversity of sources and protection from material harmful to children’s well-being 70
H. The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including corporal punishment 72
I. Measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and reintegration
of child victims 74
5. Family Environment and Alternative Care 77
A. Family environment and parental guidance in a manner consistent with
the evolving capacities of the child 77
B. Parents’ common responsibilities and alternative care, assistance to parents
and the provision of childcare services 78
C. Separation from parents 80
D. Family Re-unification 80
E. Recovery of maintenance 81
F. Children deprived of a family environment 81
G. Periodic review of placement 88
H. Adoption, national and intercountry 89
I. Illicit transfer and non-return 90
J. Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological recovery and
social integration 91
6. Disability, basic health and welfare 92
A. Children with disabilities 92
B. Traveller health 95
C. Survival and development 96
D. Health and health services, particularly primary care 97
E. Efforts to address the most prevalent health challenges and promote the
physical and mental health and well-being of children, and to prevent and
deal with communicable and non-communicable diseases 99
F. Reproductive health rights of adolescents and measures to promote
a healthy lifestyle 104
G. Measures to prohibit and eliminate all forms of harmful traditional practices 105
H. Measures to protect children from substance abuse 106
I. Measures to ensure the protection of children with incarcerated parents
and children living in prison with their mothers 108
J. Social security and childcare services and facilities 108
K. Standard of living and measures, including material assistance and support programmes with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing, to ensure mental, spiritual, moral and social development, and reduce poverty and inequality 110
7. Education, leisure and cultural activities 115
A. The right to education 115
B. The aims of education 115
C. Cultural rights of children belonging to indigenous and minority groups 125
D. Education in human rights and civic education 126
E. Rest, play, leisure, recreation and cultural and artistic activities 127
8. Special Protection Measures 136
A. Children outside their country of origin seeking refugee protection,
unaccompanied minors, internally displaced children, migrant children
and children affected by migration 136
B. Children in situations of armed conflict, including physical and psychological
recovery and social integration 137
C. Children in situations of exploitation, including physical and psychological
recovery and social integration 138
D. Children in street situations 141
E. Children in conflict with the law, victims and witnesses 142
F. Children belonging to a minority or indigenous group 146
References 147
Appendix: Children’s Rights Alliance Submission for inclusion in the State Report
to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, February 2013 151
Index 153
Minister’s Foreword
The vision of the Irish Government is that growing up in Ireland means that you have the best start in life compared to anywhere in the world.
With the first dedicated Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, the Irish Government has committed to achieve significant improvements in relation to children and young people. These include:
· the holding of a Referendum in relation to the rights of children under the Constitution;
· the establishment of a Child and Family Agency on a statutory basis in order to fundamentally reform the delivery of child protection services and remove responsibility for these from the Health Service Executive (HSE);
· implementing the recommendations of the Ryan Report, including putting the Children First: National Guidance on a statutory footing and legislating for the use of ‘soft’ information;
· maintaining the free pre-school year and improving its quality as resources allow;
· enacting legislation to consolidate and reform the law on adoption;
· investing in a targeted early childhood education programme for disadvantaged children, building on existing targeted pre-school supports for families most in need of assistance;
· ending the practice of sending children to St. Patrick’s Institution.
It is in this context that I introduce this report by the Government to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. I look forward to continuing to work with the Committee and the various organisations in Ireland which I know share our ambitions for our children. In particular, I look forward to meeting the Committee at an early date to discuss the areas in which progress has already been achieved and the future progress which this Government is committed to achieving.
I wish the Committee every success in its work.
Frances Fitzgerald, TD
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs
July 2013
Acknowledgements
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs would like to sincerely thank the staff of the many Government departments and agencies who contributed to the preparation of this report. In addition, the input and cooperation received from the non-governmental organisations is greatly appreciated.
Acronyms used
AAI Adoption Authority of Ireland
AHTU Anti-Human Trafficking Unit
ASAI Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland
CAAB Children Acts Advisory Board
CCC City and County Childcare Committee
CCS Community Childcare
CDB City and County Development Board
CES Centre for Effective Services
CETS Subvention Childcare Education and Training Support
CFA Child and Family Agency
CIS Crisis Intervention Service
CRA Children’s Rights Alliance
CSC Children’s Services Committee
CSPE Civics, Social and Political Education
CYPF Children and Young People’s Forum
DCYA Department of Children and Youth Affairs
DES Department of Education and Skills
DoH Department of Health
DSP Department of Social Protection
DVSAIU Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit
ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education
EPSEN Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004
EWO Education Welfare Officer
FSA Family Support Agency
FSAI Food Safety Authority of Ireland
GAL Guardian ad Litem
GNIB Garda National Immigration Bureau
GRIO Garda Racial and Intercultural Office
GYDP Garda Youth Diversion Projects
HBSC Health Behaviours of School-Age Children
HIQA Health Information and Quality Authority
HRC Human Rights Commission
HSE Health Service Executive
ICDRG Independent Child Deaths Review Group
INIS Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service
INTO Irish National Teachers Organisation
ISC Irish Sports Council
IYJS Irish Youth Justice Service
JCCAC Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children
LSP Local Sports Partnership
MTFC Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care
NAPR National Action Plan Against Racism
NCAC National Children's Advisory Council
NCCA National Council for Curriculum and Assessment
NCCRI National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism
NCIP National Childcare Investment Programme
NCSE National Council for Special Education
NEPS National Educational Psychology Service
NEWB National Educational Welfare Board
NIO National Immunisation Office
OCO Ombudsman for Children’s Office
OIS Office for Internet Safety
OMCYA Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs
RIA Refugee Integration Agency
SAGO Special Action Group on Obesity
SPHE Social, Personal and Health Education
SSI Social Services Inspectorate
VEC Vocational Education Committee
WHA World Health Assembly
YPP Young Persons Probation
List of Tables
Table 1: Primary reason for admission to care, by care status (2011) 3
Table 2: Resource allocations made to the DCYA, 2011-2012 3
Table 3: Consultations with children and subsequent publications 3
Table 4: Definition of ‘the child’ and minimum legal age provisions 3
Table 5: Number of applications for asylum by unaccompanied minors seeking asylum,
2006-2011 3
Table 6: Trend in number of children in care, 2007-2011 3
Table 7: Children in care by type of placement, April 2012 3
Table 8: Number of children abducted from and to Ireland (new applications), 2006-2010 3
Table 9: Maximum age limit for payment of One-Parent Family Payment, 2013-2015 3
Table 10: Number of whole-time equivalent language support teachers at primary
and post-primary levels, 2006-2011 3
ix
Introduction
Background to the current report
1. Ireland’s Consolidated Third and Fourth Reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides an update on Ireland’s Second Report, published by the National Children’s Office (NCO) in 2005. In doing so, it highlights the progress made over the past 6 years
(2006-2011) and the significant changes in policies and provision aimed at enhancing our understanding of children’s lives and effecting positive change in their experiences.
2. Key to the progress achieved since the submission of the last report has been the ongoing implementation of Ireland’s National Children’s Strategy: Our Children – Their Lives, published in 2000. Rooted in the UN Convention, this cross-Governmental strategy has resulted in a number of consultative structures and exercises through which the voices of Irish children may be heard on key issues that affect them, as well as a number of significant and ongoing research initiatives investigating the lives of children. As evidenced in the main body of this report, this increasing awareness of a need to listen to children and provide opportunities for their views to be heard has resulted in a number of important changes. Building on the experience of the National Children’s Strategy, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) is currently in the process of developing a new National Children and Young People’s Policy Framework.
3. Ireland’s commitment to improving children’s lives and strengthening their rights is evident in the creation of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in June 2011, with full Cabinet status. It is also evident in the Constitutional Referendum regarding children’s rights that was held on 10th November 2012. The mission of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is ‘To lead the effort to improve the outcomes for children and young people in Ireland’. The responsibilities of the Department encompass a wide range of policy and service activity, both direct and indirect, for children and young people in Ireland. It has a complex mandate, comprised of a number of separate, but interrelated strands:
· the direct provision of a range of universal and targeted services;
· ensuring high-quality arrangements are in place for focused interventions dealing with child welfare and protection, family support, adoption, school attendance and reducing youth crime;
· the harmonisation of policy and provision across Government with a wide range of stakeholders to improve outcomes for children, young people and families.
4. This report covers the 6 years between 2006 and 2011. In some instances, data from 2012 are used for clarity. In order to contextualise developments made during these
6 years and proposals for the future, it is necessary to outline some wider recent trends and developments relevant to children’s lives in Ireland.
The economy
5. Following strong growth in the 1990s, the Irish economy, from 2000 onwards, began to lose competitiveness, resulting in a shifting of growth away from exports towards more unstable domestic demand sources such as construction. The resulting ‘construction boom’ led to the accumulation of imbalances within the Irish economy, which left it highly exposed to the ‘Great Recession’, the rapid global downturn of 2008 and 2009.
6. A loss of competitiveness domestically, compounded by weakness in key trading partners and an appreciation of the euro during the turbulence, had a detrimental impact on Ireland’s exporting sectors. Exports fell by 7.3% between Q4 2007 and Q3 2009, while housing output, which peaked at over 90,000 houses in 2006, fell sharply as the demand for housing waned. A dramatic fall in consumer confidence resulted in unprecedented decline in personal consumption. Against this backdrop, real GDP recorded annual contractions in 2008, 2009 and 2010, resulting in a peak-to-trough decline of 10.7% (Q4 2007 to Q4 2009), before returning to growth in 2011 – growing by 1.4% in the year. As is typical in a small open economy, the initial recovery was driven by strong export performance, resulting from a rapid improvement in Ireland’s competitiveness. Preliminary figures from the CSO show Ireland achieved a second successive year of growth in 2012, with real GDP growing by 0.9% in the year. The Department of Finance is forecasting a continuation of growth into this year, with the Department’s most recent forecasts projecting a rate of 1.5% for 2013.
7. In common with many European states, Ireland is attempting to address the economic crisis with a period of fiscal rectitude as outlined in the National Recovery Plan. Unfortunately, this has resulted in reductions in expenditure across many areas of the public sector.
8. Unemployment has increased considerably in the past number of years, from 4.4% in early 2006 to 14.8% in the third quarter of 2012, with long-term unemployment increasing from 1.3% to 8.9% over the same period.