7. Accountability for child and youth well-being policy in Ireland
This chapter analyses the broader governance arrangements which aim to ensure accountability in the field of child and youth policy outcomes in Ireland. It first provides an overview of the legal frameworks underpinning accountability for child and youth policy in the country. It then looks into the institutional responsibilities, capacities, as well as practices to promote various types of accountability, as identified by the previous national policy framework for children and young people “Better Outcomes Brighter Futures 2014-20”, notably political accountability, inter-departmental and non-governmental accountability, accountability to children and young people, financial accountability and public accountability. It highlights opportunities to strengthen institutional reporting and accountability mechanisms and to embed policy monitoring and evaluation within and across layers of government and the whole of the Irish society for more robust results.
Governments have a greater chance to deliver better outcomes for all citizens, including children and young people, if robust accountability mechanisms are in place and underpin their actions. As set forth in the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People, having in place strong oversight and accountability mechanisms is a key element to ensure inclusive policy outcomes across age groups (OECD, 2022[1]).
The evaluation of impacts of child and youth well-being policies, as well as the provision of robust redress and recourse options are important pillars of a broader set of accountability and oversight mechanisms to deliver better policy outcomes for children and youth. Accountability refers to the responsibility of public institutions to inform citizens and the target groups about decisions affecting them, as well as to provide an account of government activities and performance to achieve objectives as laid out in policy and strategies. Strengthening accountability has many facets and dimensions, such as the capacity of mechanisms and institutions to handle complaints in a fair, timely, and transparent way. It also relies on the scrutiny of a variety of stakeholders, such as parliamentary committees, ombudsperson offices, and internal audit institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations, and expert advisory committees, among others (OECD, 2020[2]).
This chapter assesses the governance arrangements in place to ensure accountability in the field of child and youth policy in Ireland. It first provides an overview of the legal frameworks to promote accountability for child and youth well-being. It then looks into the institutional responsibilities, capacities, and practices to promote various types of accountability, as identified by Ireland’s previous national policy framework for children and young people Better Outcomes Brighter Futures 2014-20, notably political accountability, inter-departmental and non-governmental accountability, accountability to children and young people, financial accountability, and public accountability (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). By highlighting existing good practices and areas for further improvement, the chapter identifies opportunities to strengthen institutional reporting and accountability mechanisms and to embed policy monitoring and evaluation within and across layers of government and the whole of the Irish society for more robust results1.
In Ireland, a comprehensive legal framework underpins the stated policy objective to improving child and youth well-being. Some of these laws directly address the needs of children and young people, such as child protection laws. Others pertain to specific policy areas like education, primarily geared towards delivering services to children and young people as their target group, although not exclusively. In addition, others focus on policy areas such as health, which is important for groups in society independent of age, but for which children and young people express specific public service needs. The main laws under this definition are highlighted in Box 7.1.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Ireland has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992. Therefore, the country has the legal obligation to commit itself to promoting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of children that are entitled in the Convention.
Child Care Act 1991 and Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2023: this act is the primary legislation establishing a legal framework for child care policy in Ireland. It sets out duties for the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection.
Children First Act 2015: this act introduces a legal requirement for professionals and organisations providing services to children to report child protection concerns to the Child and Family Agency. It also establishes an obligation for organisations working with children to publish Child Safeguarding Statements and “put the Children First”.
Child and Family Agency Act 2013: this act establishes the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) as the agency responsible for supporting and promoting the development, welfare, and protection of children. It states that Tusla shall demonstrate high standards in transparency and accountability.
Health Acts 2004 and 2007 and the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022: these acts form the legal framework for the provision of health services, including for children and young people.
Mental Health Act 2001: this act regulates both adult and child psychiatry and involuntary detention for mental health reasons.
Children and Family Relationships Act 2015: this act sets out a legal framework for putting the interest of the child at the primary consideration in all family law matters. It aims to better reflect contemporary family life in Ireland by developing a more inclusive family law on issues such as adoption, guardianship, and custody.
National Youth Work Act 2001: this act sets out the legal framework for the provision of youth work services in Ireland.
Source: (United Nations, 1989[4]); (Government of Ireland, n.a.[5]); (Irish Statute Book, 2015[6]); (Irish Statute Book, 2020[7]); (Irish Statute Book, 2004[8]); (Irish Statute Book, 2001[9]); (Irish Statute Book, 2015[6]); (Irish Statute Book, 2001[10]; Office of the Attorney General, 2013[11]).
This set of laws was adopted to support improvements in child protection and welfare services over the last decades, including quality and accessibility of services for children and families, and to enhance reporting and management of child protection concerns.
In addition, there is an extensive legal framework establishing the mandate and prerogatives of stakeholders exercising scrutiny over child and youth policy in Ireland, notably in the field of children’s rights (see Box 7.2).
Political accountability and accountability through independent oversight institutions
Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013: through this act, the Parliament can set up Committees of Inquiries tasked with examining policy, legislation, or a particular topic. The Committee can seek submissions from experts and interested parties and must report its findings back to the Parliament.
Ombudsman for Children Act 2002: this act sets out the role and powers of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, thus providing a legal basis for the independent oversight exercised by that body. It has the competence to investigate complaints for a defined list of services provided to young people under 18 years by public organisations such as schools, local authorities, the Health Service Executive (HSE), or Tusla.
Ombudsman Act 1980 and Ombudsman Amendment Act 2012: these acts introduce the Ombudsman and define its powers to examine complaints from people on public service provision in Ireland. The Ombudsman cannot investigate in matters that are subject to an investigation by the Ombudsman for Children.
Rights Tribunals established by Acts of the Parliament: several specialised rights tribunals were established in Ireland to provide quick, informal, and inexpensive alternative to the courts system in a specific area of law. Among the tribunals with potential effects on children’s rights are, i.e., the International Protection Appeals Tribunal or the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
Tribunal of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1924: according to this act, the Parliament has the power to establish tribunals of inquiry to investigate certain matters of public importance. They are set up with powers to investigate specific matters and to submit a report to the Parliament that may contain recommendations.
Commission of Investigation Act 2004: this act allows for the establishment of Commissions of Investigation to examine a matter of “urgent public concern”. The Government can set up a commission based on a proposal by a minister, with the approval of the Minister for Finance. Members are appointed by the Government or a specified minister and shall have the appropriate experience, qualifications, training, or expertise to conduct the concrete investigation. The Parliament must approve a draft of the order establishing the commission.
Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act 1961: this act and respective amendments establish the present court system in Ireland that allows for the review of public and private acts potentially violating children’s rights.
Mental Health Act 2001: this act establishes the Mental Health Commission to promote, encourage and foster the establishment and maintenance of high standards and good practices in the delivery of mental health services.
Financial accountability
Comptroller and Auditor-General Act 1923 and Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993: according to these acts, the Comptroller and Auditor General is responsible for the audit of accounts across a wide range of state activities, including the central government, funds administered by Government Departments and non-commercial sponsored bodies, health bodies and educational training boards. These acts play an important role in establishing financial accountability mechanisms in Ireland, including with respect to child and youth well-being policies.
Public accountability
Freedom of Information Act 2014: this act gives each individual legal rights to access, amend or delete both personal and non-personal (corporate) records held by a defined list of public bodies or inquire about reason for decisions affecting them made by public bodies. It aims to strengthen public accountability through increasing governmental transparency.
Standing Order 111A: this standing order re-establishes a Joint Committee on Public Petitions of the Parliament. Through petitions, every citizen can raise issues of general public interest with the Parliament that subsequently considers if further action on the matter is required.
Source: (Citizens Information Board, 2023[12]).
This section assesses the institutional arrangements, capacities, and practices to ensure accountability in the field of child and youth policy and outcomes in Ireland. The analysis is organised along the five types of accountability identified by Ireland’s previous national policy framework for children and young people Better Outcomes Brighter Futures 2014-20, notably political accountability, inter-departmental and non-governmental accountability, accountability to children and young people, financial accountability, and public accountability (Figure 7.1) (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]).
Source: Author’s own elaboration.
Political accountability
Effective political accountability requires a robust institutional framework to serve as catalyst for ensuring the implementation and co-ordination of children and youth policy objectives. It necessitates a holistic approach with a clear allocation of mandates and responsibilities across ministerial portfolios and different levels of government, and independent oversight mechanisms. Independent oversight institutions should have statutory independence from the executive and be given sufficient authority and resources to monitor, oversee and promote the implementation of policy initiatives over all of the government (OECD, 2017[13]) (OECD, 2018[14]), including with respect to child and youth policy.
Accountability through the government
In a representative democracy, elected politicians and members of the Government are accountable through elections. While voting decisions are made on a wide range of criteria, some voters will be influenced in their decisions, in whole or in part, by the policy outcomes achieved for children and young people. Various OECD countries have developed implementation plans and established a requirement to review existing child and youth strategies regularly to strengthen government accountability (Dirwan and Thévenon, 2023[15]). Box 7.3 provides more details on such practices in Finland and New Zealand.
Finland: Securing political commitment to the National Child Strategy beyond government terms
The accountability framework established to underpin the National Child Strategy in Finland aims at ensuring consistent and long-term improvements. Every government is obliged to adopt a new implementation plan for the National Child Strategy when taking office, to be implemented in cross-administrative collaboration and with a wide range of stakeholders in society and population groups.
This plan has to be linked to selected indicators used to monitor the effectiveness of the policies laid down in the Strategy and the measures implemented during each government term. At the end of each term, the Leading Specialist of the National Child Strategy in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (previously: Secretary General, located within the Prime Minister’s Office) presents a monitoring report to the Ministerial Working Group for a Sustainable Welfare Society, chaired by the Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services and co-chaired by the Minister of Local and Regional Government, and comprising four other ministers (European Affairs and Ownership Steering, Agriculture and Forestry, Social Security, Interior). The report monitors the Strategy and its corresponding implementation plan. It is also used to inform the design of the implementation plan that is developed by the subsequent government by defining possible priorities and thus providing intra and inter-governmental accountability over consecutive government terms.
New Zealand: Setting 3-year and 10-year targets for reducing child poverty
The Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 requires the government to set, review and report on 10-year and 3-year targets for reducing child poverty, and on a set of child poverty related indicators. By setting 10-year targets requiring the commitment of various subsequent governments, New Zealand intends to facilitate political accountability for addressing child poverty. Additionally, amendments to the Children’s Act 2014 require the Minister responsible for the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy to present an annual report to Parliament on progress made against the outcomes of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, with contributions provided by various government agencies (departments). The Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy outlines how the outcomes will be measured and the monitoring progress.
Sources: (Lapsen Oikeudet, 2021[16]); (Lapsen Oikeudet, 2023[17]); (Finnish Government, 2022[18]); (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2019[19]); (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2022[20]); (Parliamentary Counsel Office, 2018[21]).
In Ireland, Cabinet Committees are established by the Government to assist in carrying out its responsibilities and derive their mandate and prerogatives from it (Government of Ireland, 2023[22]). With respect to children and youth policies, BOBF 2014-20, the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020, and First 5 were covered by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy, which was chaired by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and identified social policy as a transversal issue. Membership was inclusive of 12 ministers, including the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. This Committee, renamed to Committee on Social Affairs and Equality under the 32nd Government, was also responsible for exercising oversight of other strategies related to child and youth well-being. With the adoption of Young Ireland in November 2023, these functions are now exercised under the 33rd Government by the Cabinet Committee on Children and Education, whose membership includes the Taoiseach, Tánaiste (Ireland’s deputy head of government), the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and other 8 ministers (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]). Currently, the Cabinet Committees on Housing, on Health, on Environment and Climate Change, and on Humanitarian Response to Ukraine also oversee relevant work for children and young people (Government of Ireland, 2023[22]).
The relevant Cabinet Committee for BOBF 2014-20 and related strategies seemed to encompass all Cabinet members, and this may have facilitated policy coherence across sectors and promoted a whole-of-government approach for the advancement of the child and youth well-being agenda in Ireland. At the same time, in view of the competing and multiple priorities of the Taoiseach and ministers responsible for other areas, OECD evidence suggests that it may be difficult to dedicate the necessary level of attention to cross-cutting issues, such as the ones related to child and youth well-being, in all of those thematic committees (OECD, 2008[24]) (OECD, 2018[25]). In general, the meetings of Cabinet Committees are preceded by a meeting of the Senior Officials’ Group, which is responsible for setting up the agenda and preparing documents for discussion. The Senior Officials’ Groups can meet more frequently than the Cabinet Committees and typically have a wider representative base than the Cabinet Committees to facilitate inter-departmental co-ordination.
Not every Minister with a portfolio pertaining to children and young people sits on all the Cabinet Committees that touch upon relevant policies for those age groups. For instance, under the 32nd Government, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was not participating in the Cabinet Committees on COVID-19, on Health, and on Environment and Climate Change. Similarly, the Minister for Education was not a member in Cabinet Committees on COVID-19, on Environment and Climate Change, and on Accommodation and Supports for Ukrainian Refugees (Government of Ireland, 2023[26]). Likewise, under the 33rd Government, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth does not participate in the Cabinet Committees on Environment and Climate Change, and on Housing. While this may speed up decision-making thanks to a more targeted involvement of senior officials, and therefore less intense co-ordination and coalition-seeking efforts in a multiparty government, it comes with the risk that the rights and specific needs of children and young people are not sufficiently mainstreamed at the highest political level. Following recommendations by the independent panel on strengthening Civil Service accountability and performance in 2014, the Government established an Accountability Board which was dissolved shortly afterwards and has not met since 2016 for unknown reasons (Government of Ireland, 2022a[27]). Going forward, it would be beneficial to ensure that, whenever an accountability structure is dissolved, the reasoning behind this decision is comprehensively understood, documented, and shared with relevant stakeholders. This approach would contribute to fostering accountability and facilitating learning.
Regarding the implementation of BOBF 2014-20, stakeholders interviewed by the OECD pointed out that Government Departments and state agencies should have been held more accountable for the commitments assigned to them (Department of Children and Youth Affairs, 2018[28]). This report of limited accountability across departments and agencies at the political level may have been due to the fact that accountability for the implementation of BOBF 2014-20 was defined for the entire Government rather than in terms of specific accountability for each department.
Finally, Ministers may commission a (non-statutory) inquiry into a matter of public importance. Ministers have also conducted (independent) reviews of the work of government agencies related to child and youth policies, such as the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2022[29]).
Accountability through the Parliament (the Oireachtas)
In Ireland, the Oireachtas has several instruments to hold government to account and provide oversight for programmes related to children and young people, including:
Committee system in the Oireachtas, where Committees are responsible for reviewing government programmes and policies, including those related to children and young people. They can conduct hearings, gather evidence, make recommendations to the government, and have a considerable importance in providing a more detailed examination of draft legislation and executive work on a specific area (see Box 7.4). The Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is responsible for the oversight of the DCEDIY and the State bodies within the responsibility of this Department. It was established by both Houses of the Oireachtas on 24 May 2021 (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2021[30]). In 2023, it focused on foster care issues, integrated care, education, and refugee issues and analysed the proposed “Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022”. The Joint Committee also issued a report on Assessments of Need for Children including recommendations, to be followed by a disability capacity review action plan. The reports published by the Committee contain pre-legislative scrutiny of proposed bills with recommendations to the Parliament and DCEDIY (Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[31]). However, in general, the Joint Committee appears to operate under limited access to relevant data, which may limit its capacities for conducting thorough reviews. For instance, the Committee demanded the referral and publication of a Data Protection Impact Assessment from DCEDIY, which was not granted (Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2021[32]).
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is responsible for answering questions of Oireachtas Members on the performance of the department and its agencies. Questions from members of parliament are published online together with the answers provided and appear to be a common instrument of deputies to inquire information from the government on the state of child well-being and implementation of children and youth policies in Ireland. Hereto, they can increase visibility and transparency of government action and challenges (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2023[33]).
In the past, parliamentary reviews of children and youth policy strategies were conducted in Ireland. For instance, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, a cross-party parliamentary group to strengthen women’s rights, petitioned for the Government to introduce measures to mitigate period poverty. As a result, a cross-sectoral Sub-Committee of the National Strategy for Women and Girls Strategy Committee was established and conducted an in-depth review of how the Strategy addresses period poverty (Period Poverty Sub-Committee, 2021[34]).
Committees of Inquiry or Tribunals of Inquiry related to children and youth policies have not been created since 1990 (Citizens Information Board, 2023[35]).
The Oireachtas has budgetary oversight through the review and approval of the government budget, including for child and youth policies and services (see also Section on financial accountability). The Parliamentary Budget Office supports the Oireachtas and in particular the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight with financial and budgetary intelligence. As an independent unit within the Houses of the Oireachtas Service, it conducts ex ante scrutiny of budgetary matters, e.g., before the budget is adopted by the Oireachtas (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2023[36]). By examining why and how public money is spent for childcare in Ireland and providing suggestions for more efficient use of public resources, it can provide valuable financial oversight on government programmes and policies (Parliamentary Budget Office, 2019[37]). However, as the Government has a strong role and primacy in budgetary decision-making, there is continuous space to improve the information base for the Oireachtas in this process to strengthen its control functions (OECD, 2016[38]).
Public petitions of citizens, introduced in 2012, concerning children and youth-related matters have been discussed by the Oireachtas Committee responsible for public petitions and relevant stakeholders. This mechanism has helped to identify challenges in the implementation of child and youth policies, such as in debates on financial relief for therapy of autistic children, or via the Annual Reports of the Office of Ombudsman for Children (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2023[39]).
In Ireland, parliamentary committees fall into two major categories – departmental and thematic. Oireachtas Departmental committees shadow the work of a government department while thematic committees consider specific topics.
The committees are established by one or both Houses of the Oireachtas and cannot expand the powers allocated to them. Committees have an overall scrutiny function on legislative and executive work related to their area of expertise. They can influence law-making by examining and amending draft legislation, including reviewing draft EU legislative proposals. They also provide advice on policy issues by producing reports based on investigations through stakeholders’ hearings and off-site visits. Reports include findings and recommendations with a view to influencing policy decisions or legislation. Ultimately, committees play an important role to promote government accountability by questioning the respective Ministers on policy, expenditure and governance matters during hearings.
Source: (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2021[40]), “About committees”, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/committees/about-committees/.
Accountability through independent oversight institutions
In Ireland, a large number of independent bodies and institutions have a role in fostering public accountability in the field of child and youth policy and outcomes, contributing to creating a complex system of relationships that could be streamlined by further defining and clarifying roles and responsibilities of all actors involved.
For example, an important role in ensuring accountability for children’s rights is played by the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, an independent statutory office that was established under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 (Law Reform Commission of Ireland, n.a.[41]). The role of the Ombudsman for Children is to promote and safeguard the rights and welfare of children in Ireland by exercising oversight over the policies affecting children and young people under 18 years of age as well as the services provided to them. In fact, it can conduct investigations through research and evidence-gathering and make recommendations to improve policies and practices. It also investigates complaints made by or on behalf of children, related to situations of unfair treatment or potential violations of their rights (Ombudsman for Children, n.a.[42]). As such, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children frequently conducts general reviews of public institutions implementing child and youth policies in Ireland, such as Tusla or DCEDIY, and handles individual complaints on public services for children (Office of the Ombudsman, 2017[43]; Office of the Ombudsman, 2022[44]; Office of the Ombudsman, 2023[45]). To determine if a complaint is justified, the Ombudsman has the power to request information from public bodies, although there is no obligation on the part of public bodies to provide this information, thus potentially undermining the effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s functions. The Ombudsman for Children reports directly to the Oireachtas and submits annual reports on its activities, which are made public (Irish Statute Book, 2002[46]). The reports include both the number and nature of received and investigated complaints and recommendations for improving the well-being of children and young people. In addition, the Ombudsman can submit special reports on matters of urgency or special importance on issues linked to child rights and well-being. These reports aim to increase public awareness about issues affecting children in Ireland and can lead to changes in policies or services (e.g., child protection), enhance accountability of officials and bodies, and trigger further investigation by other bodies.
The Office of the Ombudsman for Children is currently funded by the Central Fund – the main accounting fund used by the government of Ireland – through the DCEDIY, which in practice exercises oversight of the Office itself. As highlighted in the Review of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 (Ombusdman for Children, 2022[47]), the current approach to the funding of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children raises concerns in relation to its independence, considering that it receives its funding from the department which represents the main object of the Office’s scrutiny. Similarly, while the Office of the Ombudsman for Children can recruit its own staff, new positions have to be approved by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, thus potentially limiting the Office’s independence to decide on staffing (Ombusdman for Children, 2022[47]).
An additional main challenge that the Office of the Ombudsman for Children in Ireland faces in carrying out its functions is related to capacity. Stakeholder interviews conducted by the OECD suggest challenges exist due to resource constraints and, to some extent, limited availability of legal, policy, and research expertise. In addition, OECD interviews highlighted that, given the broad mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children focusing on the rights and welfare of children in Ireland, it may be difficult to examine certain issues relating to child protection law and policy in depth.
The Office of the Ombudsman is another independent institution that examines complaints from members of the public against a public body. It conducts general reviews of public institutions implementing child and youth policies in Ireland, such as Tusla or DCEDIY, and handles individual complaints on public services for children (Office of the Ombudsman, 2017[43]) (Office of the Ombudsman, 2022[44]) (Office of the Ombudsman, 2023[45]). By this, the Office of the Ombudsman provides an important oversight function to enhance administrative accountability. However, non-constitutional recognition of the Ombudsman and challenges to the findings of its investigations into public services leave space to further improve the acceptance and uptake of its assessments and recommendations (Donson and O’Donovan, 2014[48]).
Another stakeholder contributing to promoting accountability for child and youth policy in Ireland is the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, who is appointed by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for a three-year term. The Rapporteur is accountable to the Oireachtas to which it submits yearly reports, and is entitled to consult with Departments of Government and the Ombudsman for Children about any legislative initiatives designed to enhance child protection (Government of Ireland, 2023[49]). As such, the Special Rapporteur fulfils important functions to analyse existing and draft legislation and highlight gaps for improvement, by making comments and recommendations. However, there is scope to strengthen engagement with the government, considering that the Special Rapporteur stated in 2022 in his official report that government departments (other than the DCEDIY) were not adequately engaging and responding to his requests (O’Mahony, 2022[50]). Further, as reports are currently published only four to seven months after their submission (O’Mahony, 2022[50]), there is room to accelerate their publication to foster immediate take-up of findings and recommendations. According to the Rapporteur’s report issued in 2022, this also led to information being outdated and individuals affected by issues that were covered in the report feeling “anxiety” due to persisting unclarity (O’Mahony, 2022[50]). This appears to reduce the Special Rapporteur’s ability to act as an effective oversight institution, highlighting potential to improve co-operation from government departments.
Commissions of Investigation related to children’s rights have played a critical role to promote accountability in the child and youth sector in Ireland. For instance, they have investigated sexual child abuse by religious institutions in Ireland, such as the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse established in 2000 and the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation set up in 2015 (Citizens Information, n.a.[51]). Members of Commissions of Investigation are experts on the investigated matter, such as judges or professors (The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, n.a.[52]). Among others, these Commissions published reports available to the wider public and subsequent monitoring reports on the implementation of their recommendations to different stakeholders, including the Government. As such, Commissions of Investigation have given impetus to legal, institutional and policy change to foster child and youth well-being. For instance, the reports monitoring the implementation of the “Ryan Report” (2009) highlight the establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in 2011 and the initiative of proposals for the reform of the Child Care Act, which was subsequently amended in 2013 by the Child and Family Agency Act (Ryan Report Monitoring Group, 2014[53]). According to stakeholders, it has however taken until 2023 to start implementing some of the recommendations of the “Ryan Report”, for instance to conduct longitudinal research on care leavers. This shows room to improve effective learning and uptake of recommendations provided by Commissions of Investigation.
As part of the Implementation Plan of the “Ryan Report”, the National Review Panel (NRP) was set up in 2010. The Panel is commissioned by Tusla but is functionally independent and operates separately from the agency. It conducts reviews of child deaths and serious incidents and produces reports to improve the quality of services provided to children and families. Reviews of the Panel consist of investigation in all records held by social work departments and professionals from other services who have worked with the child and family as well submissions from stakeholders, interviews with staff and family members. With limited exceptions, reports of the Panel are published (Tusla, 2023[54]). Annual reports highlight that IT resource constraints and the number of referred cases caused “delayed and inadequate assessment” while data protection legislation made it difficult to obtain relevant case records from involved public agencies (National Review Panel, 2021[55]). It is also unclear in how far recommendations by the Panel were taken up and effectively considered for implementation.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), established under the Health Act 2007, also has an important oversight function of government action to promote child and youth well-being in Ireland. The HIQA is an independent authority reporting to the Minister for Health and engaging with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Affairs, advising on children’s social care services. It is mandated to develop standards, inspect, and review health and social care services, as well as to inform decisions on how these services should be delivered (Health Information and Quality Authority, 2018[56]). HIQA’s Children’s Team is responsible for inspecting the social services that children access to in order to assess whether they meet national standards (Health information and Quality Authority, n.a.[57]). The findings of HIQA’s inspection reports are generally published on the Authority’s website, unless they would potentially allow the identification of children, especially in small residential centres. All reports are then sent to Tusla and/or other service providers, that can share them with children living in the centre and their families.
Similarly, the Mental Health Commission plays a role in fostering accountability for child and youth policy with respect to the provision of a wide range of mental health services in Ireland. Established as an independent regulator under the Mental Health Act 2001 (Irish Statute Book, 2001[9]), the Commission aims to promote, encourage, and foster high standards and good practices in the delivery of mental health services. It publishes national reviews of mental health services and inspection reports on approved mental health centres. The Commission’s reports have been discussed in the Oireachtas, for instance with regards to children left without care by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. However, it was reported during discussions in the Oireachtas that recommendations provided by the Commission were only partially addressed, thus indicating space for improvement to ensure effective accountability through enhanced uptake of the Commission’s investigative work (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2023[58]).
Finally, some form of independent oversight is also ensured by the Comptroller and Auditor General, an independent constitutional officer with responsibility for the audit of public funds. The Comptroller and Auditor General audits financial accounts of Ireland’s public bodies (Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, 2020[59]) but does not conduct reviews or audits of child and youth-related strategies and initiatives. Its role is discussed more extensively in the section on financial accountability below.
Further, apart from bodies and commissions, some specific independent projects contribute to strengthening accountability in the field of child and youth policy, such as the Child Law Project described in Box 7.5.
The Child Law Project was established in 2012 under the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2007. Previously funded by two philanthropic organisations, it is now fully funded by the DCEDIY but remains operationally independent. The Project examines and reports on judicial childcare proceedings in the courts and provides information to the public on the operation of the childcare system with the aim of promoting transparency and accountability. To this effect, it makes recommendations to address shortcomings in the childcare system identified in its research. Through publications of reports on individual childcare proceedings in courts and more general analytical reports, e.g., on law reforms, the Project has the ability to highlight areas of improvement. However, it is unclear to what extent departments and service providers have been taking recommendations by the Project into account so far.
Source: (Child Law Project, 2023[60]); (Child Law Project, 2023[61]).
Interdepartmental and non-governmental accountability
Policies and services for children and young people are intrinsically cross-cutting and multidimensional and this means that they cannot be implemented in isolation from each other (Chapter 4 and 8). In Ireland, a wide range of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders are involved in the implementation of child and youth policy and in the delivery of services to children and young people. In this context, strong co-ordination mechanisms across governmental and non-governmental stakeholders are essential to avoid fragmented delivery (OECD, 2020[62]), and effective mechanisms need to be set up to ensure interdepartmental and non-governmental accountability to deliver better outcomes.
Interdepartmental accountability ensures that the different departments and agencies as well as other service providers involved in the implementation of child and youth policy develop a shared understanding of policy challenges and shared accountability to address cross-cutting and complex issues. OECD countries have established ad hoc structures, as well as legal and operational arrangements, to promote interdepartmental accountability, as described using the example of New Zealand in Box 7.6.
In New Zealand, as a core government principle, all government agencies (which correspond to departments in Ireland) are expected to work in consultation and collaboration with each other to achieve shared objectives.
The Child Wellbeing and Poverty Reduction Group within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet acts as the lead institution to monitor the implementation of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. More than 20 government agencies have partial responsibility for its implementation. Overall, the chief executives of these agencies (appointed by the Public Service Commissioner, responsible to a minister for the performance of their agency), and by extension their respective line Ministers, are accountable for more than 110 individual actions. In addition, the Children’s Act 2014 requires children’s agencies to report annually to the responsible Minister on their progress in implementing the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan, which presents the Government’s commitment, actions, and leading institutions responsible to ensure that the children and young people with the greatest needs receive targeted support and services. The implementation report must also be included in the annual report submitted by each agency to Parliament.
Sources: (Dirwan and Thévenon, 2023[15]); (OECD, 2020[62]); (Oranga Tamariki Action Plan, 2023[63]).
Non-governmental accountability aims to ensure that civil society and the wider public can actively contribute to help advance policy change and hold governments and policymakers accountable for their performance. Departments, agencies and organisations working with, and for, children, young people and by extension their families or providers of care are key stakeholders to promote interdepartmental and non-governmental accountability architecture. Similarly, also the Centre of Government (CoG), by promoting policy co-ordination, providing incentives to foster horizontal work, and playing a leadership role with respect to driving government-wide strategic priorities (OECD, 2020[2]), can contribute to reinforcing those mechanisms.
Interdepartmental accountability
The adoption of BOBF 2014-20 was accompanied by the creation of new structures aiming to ensure accountability, drive implementation, and provide a forum for stakeholder engagement (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). Young Ireland re-established governance structures to promote accountability in the development of policies impacting children and young people (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]). The Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium was established under BOBF 2014-20 to promote interdepartmental accountability for the child and youth well-being policy in Ireland (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]), and was replaced in 2023 by the Children and Young People’s Policy Forum (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]) with similar functions (see Chapter 4).
The Consortium was chaired by the Secretary General of DCEDIY, supported by a representative of the Department of the Taoiseach as deputy chair (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). It comprised of senior officials from Government departments and agencies with a role in the implementation of child and youth policies, as well as representatives from advisory (the Children and Young People’s Services Committees National Steering Group and the Advisory Council) and local operational fora (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). Until 2020, the Consortium oversaw and drove the implementation of DCEDIY-led child and youth policies (including First 5 and BOBF 2014-20 constituent strategies, as discussed in Chapter 8) across government departments, agencies and sectors and reported annually to the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy, to which it submitted a mid-term review and annual reports on BOBF 2014-20.
The Consortium also included a Sponsors Group, which was established as a sub-committee of the Policy Consortium to which it reported. The Sponsors Group was made up of senior officials from the five departments leading implementation in the areas of the cross-cutting national outcomes covered by BOBF 2014-20: the DCEDIY, the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Social Protection, and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The purpose of the Sponsors Group was similar to that of the Consortium, namely, to drive implementation and provide a forum for problem solving. Only representatives of government departments were involved in this sub-committee that tended to be more implementation-focused than the Consortium, as highlighted in the BOBF 2014-20 mid-term review provided by the Advisory Council (Government of Ireland, 2016[64]).
To support the work of the Policy Consortium and Sponsors Group, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs created an Implementation Team within the Policy Innovation Unit. The Implementation Team aimed to drive accountability and the delivery of cross-Government co-ordination and collaboration to achieve better outcomes for children and young people by co-ordinating the work in and across the BOBF 2014-20 implementation structures, i.e., the Consortium and the Sponsors Group (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). It also helped identify emerging themes and trends relating to implementation and promote knowledge transfer.
As highlighted in BOBF 2014-20, the structures presented above were envisaged to play a crucial role in driving implementation and foster shared responsibilities in the achievement of Ireland’s child and youth-related objectives (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). Cross-departmental structures are widespread in Ireland to engage relevant departments in child and youth policymaking. However, OECD interviews suggest that representation in these structures tended to slip down over time, compromising their capacity to effectively take decisions on cross-cutting issues. While OECD interviews suggest that a more co-operative approach among departments’ Secretary Generals appears to emerge, the level of representation in the Consortium and in the Sponsors Group had slipped at the end of the BOBF implementation period with a negative impact on interdepartmental accountability. OECD stakeholder interviews also highlighted that meetings of these groups often tended to overlap with other relevant commitments, and that attendance was often not compulsory.
As discussed above and in previous chapters, departments often lack incentives to work together and thus ultimate responsibility for policy outcomes remains unclear in the absence of strong interdepartmental accountability mechanisms. Interviews conducted by the OECD also pointed to high administrative costs associated due to the proliferation of cross-departmental structures and limited human and financial capacity and resources to embed the perspectives and needs of children and young people from diverse backgrounds in policymaking.
Interdepartmental accountability seems to be further challenged by limited clarity in defining what counts as implementation progress, including through clear metrics and shared definitions to systematically track progress across stakeholders. For example, BOBF 2014-20 set out 163 government commitments across eleven lead departments or agencies, tacitly but not explicitly to be achieved in the seven-year duration of the national framework. Of these, 75% were current government policy commitments and 25% were new ones. The final BOBF 2014-20 implementation report conducted in 2020 aims to examine the extent to which they had been met by the end of the process (Government of Ireland, 2020[65]). However, the set of commitments has a rather ambiguous nature, and no specific and verifiable indicators have been created to enable their monitoring (OECD, 2024[66]). Overall, commitments by government departments and agencies were reported as “done”, “ongoing”, “in progress”, or “not being progressed” in the final report. From a governance perspective, there are challenges in using this information at the end of the implementation period to assess ex post performance and promote accountability, since this qualitative, self-reported system impedes the objective verification of the delivery of governmental activities as explained in the OECD's Analysis of the Monitoring System of Child Policies and Outcomes in Ireland (OECD, 2024[66]). In fact, the final annual reporting does not provide details about the ex post status of each of the individual commitments as of 2020, while BOBF 2014-20 had attributed organisational responsibility for each commitment in terms of lead agency and partners. Thus, the absence of a feedback loop for commitments made in BOBF 2014-20 has further limited accountability across the involved departments and agencies.
Moreover, stakeholder interviews conducted by the OECD suggest that, while the DCEDIY was expected to play a steering role within the Consortium, it lacked convening power to influence and monitor the work undertaken by other departments. A structure similar to the one of the Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium has been re-established under Young Ireland, with the Policy Forum to be chaired by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth with a Deputy Chair from the Department of the Taoiseach. As stated in the new policy framework, the Forum will have Assistant Secretary members from all Government departments and relevant agencies, as well as the Chair and representation from the Children and Young People’s Advisory Council (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]). Its terms of reference and work programme are still to be developed by DCEDIY.
The lessons learnt from BOBF 2014-20 underscore the potential for the Centre of Government, mainly represented by the Department of Taoiseach, to leverage its strategic and communication functions to further strengthen accountability mechanisms in child and youth policy implementation. Having the Department of the Taoiseach as deputy chair of the Consortium has reportedly facilitated sustained high-level political commitment and collaboration across implementing departments and agencies thanks to its convening power. Nevertheless, stakeholder discussions conducted by OECD revealed a gradual decrease in the Department of the Taoiseach’s involvement over time, thus leaving space for rethinking accountability structures underpinning the new Framework. Overall, OECD interviews also highlighted the potential for reviewing the balance between the need to centralise the ownership over some policy areas to ensure stronger leadership and oversight, and the willingness to decentralise others to engage all departments and agencies based on shared responsibility for transversal policy issues.
Building on this experience, the creation of the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach in early 2023 is expected to encourage greater co-ordination across key departments, provide strategic leadership from the Centre of Government, and bring stronger accountability to the child poverty agenda (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]), by combining an enhanced whole-of-government approach with a more focused and prioritised strategic outlook on key issues. As outlined in its Initial Programme Plan, the Programme Office will spearhead the co-ordination of a cross-government network dedicated to addressing child poverty within its six identified priority areas (see also Chapter 4). This network will encompass all government departments, agencies, and local authorities responsible for relevant delivery and policy development and will contribute to the development of an annual update report (Government of Ireland, 2023[67]).
Accountability relationship between DCEDIY and Tusla
In terms of the accountability arrangements, the relationship between DCEDIY and Tusla, Ireland’s Child and Family Agency, deserves specific mention. Tusla regularly reports on its performance and service provision for children and families to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth who has responsibility for overseeing its work. In line with a requirement in the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2013[68]), Tusla publishes on its website annual performance reports that focus on activity data and input-focused performance, emphasising services delivered rather than highlighting results and final outcomes (Tusla, n.a.[69]).
As its parent department, the DCEDIY provides funding and support to Tusla operations, including guidance on specific services, such as child protection, to strengthen the implementation of the Children First Act. The Tusla Governance and Performance Oversight Unit within the DCEDIY, a team of seven employees as of 2023, manages governance arrangements between the Department and Tusla. The Unit has developed a performance framework to set out policy guidance, direction and prioritisation parameters for the preparation of Tusla’s 3-year corporate plan, as well as service improvement and corporate development objectives. However, OECD interviews suggest that the DCEDIY does not directly set Tusla’s strategic priorities but rather shapes the overall policy context in which Tusla operates. Interviewees pointed to weak links between policy planning in DCEDIY and priority setting in Tusla, which makes it difficult to set clear accountability lines for the Agency. DCEDIY has the capacity to conduct a Periodical Critical Review (PCR) for Tusla to consider performance against the directions as set in the Performance Framework developed by the Minister of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The Review could contribute to better aligning strategic planning and operations in DCEDIY and Tusla respectively. More in general, fragmentation and limited accountability of agencies in relation to their parent department appear to be widespread in the Irish public sector as highlighted by the OECD in a 2008 report (OECD, 2008[70]).
In addition, Tusla is regulated by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), which undertakes inspections of the services provided by Tusla in relation to welfare and child protection. The Ombudsman for Children and the Office of the Ombudsman also have the authority to investigate complaints about Tusla’s services, although their capacities to provide effective oversight appear limited. Furthermore, Tusla’s Chief Executive Officer can be requested to attend before Oireachtas Committees, at their written request, to give an account of the general administration of the Agency (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2013[68]).
Accountability relationship with Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC)
As described in previous Chapters, Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) are county-level committees which bring together the main statutory, community and voluntary providers of services to children and young people in Ireland. Since 2007, CYPSC provide a forum for joint planning and co-ordination of activities across agencies to ensure that children, young people, and their families receive improved and accessible services in every county (Children and Young People’s Services Committees, n.a.[71]). All counties in Ireland currently have an inter-agency forum dedicated to promoting the welfare and well-being of children and young people aged 0 to 24 years.
In the governance architecture set up to implement BOBF 2014-20, CYPSC were intended to foster inter-agency co-operation and to contribute to the achievements of the five national outcomes (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). The CYPSC: Shared Vision, Next Steps document, published in 2019 by the then DCYA (now DCEDIY), provides the road map for further developing their role over the period 2019-24 (Childen and Young People's Services Committees, 2019[72]). CYPSC were accountable to the CYPSC National Steering Group until 2020 and to the Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium during the BOBF 2014-20 implementation period. Currently, oversight and operational issues are supported by a joint DCEDIY/Tusla working group, which meets every six weeks (Children and Young People's Services Committees, n.a.[73]). Other government departments and the agencies operating under them are also expected to use CYPSC to deliver relevant programmes and services to children and young people. The DCEDIY provides policy and strategic direction for CYPSC, while Tusla guarantees operational leadership of CYPSC at national level (Children and Young People's Services Committees, 2017[74]), having responsibility for the implementation of the initiative through the employment of a CYPSC National Coordinator (Government of Ireland, n.a.[75]).
The CYPSC National Steering Group supported the operation of the CYPSC until 2020 at local level and provided guidance and advice on strategic, policy and operational issues relevant to the local committees. The Chair of the CYPSC National Steering Group was a member of the Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium where pertinent issues that required a national response could be escalated. Chaired by an independent figure, the Steering Group comprises senior representatives from Tusla, Health Service Executive, City/County Councils, Education and Training Board Ireland, the Community and Voluntary sector, DCEDIY, Department of Education and Skills, Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, a young person aged 18-24 years, personnel from local CYPSC (Chairperson, vice Chairperson and CYPSC Co-ordinator), and the National Co-ordinator for CYPSC (Children and Young People's Services Committees, n.a.[73]). The National Co-ordinator for CYPSC is located in Tusla and exercises oversight of progress and impact of work undertaken by CYPSC and co-ordinates collective reporting to the national CYPSC Steering Group and DCEDIY, and hence fulfils an important function to promote accountability (Children and Young People's Services Committees, 2017[74]).
In 2017, the CYPSC National Steering Group adopted the Planning and Reporting Framework to guide CYPSC stakeholders in their planning and reporting efforts (Children and Young People's Services Committees, 2017[74]). Each local committee develops and oversees the implementation of a three-year Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP), which is designed to improve outcomes for children and young people, by responding to national priorities and outlining local priorities that the CYPSC has agreed to address through a detailed action plan of activities (Children and Young People's Services Committees, 2017[74]). So far, all CYPSC have produced such plans. Annual Programmes of Work are also developed by each CYPSC to support the implementation of their CYPPs (Children and Young People's Services Committees, n.a.[76]).
Each CYPSC is tasked to produce a Mid-Year Progress Update and an Annual Progress Report for Tusla as a tool for mutual accountability and learning. The National Co-ordinator for CYPSC monitors progress in relation to the implementation of CYPPs and produces a report to the DCEDIY and the CYPSC National Steering Group to enhance the oversight on the CYPSC work (Children and Young People's Services Committees, 2017[74]). Still, CYPSC (which develop their Plans on a 3-year basis), local authorities, and Tusla all operate on different cycles, which presents a barrier to align policy planning and promote accountability (see Chapter 4). Co-ordination with departments and local authorities is also reportedly limited, although the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2023 is expected to introduce a duty for departments and agencies to co-operate with CYPSC and attend their meetings.
Non-governmental accountability
The BOBF 2014-20 implementation structures also included an Advisory Council to ensure accountability towards non-governmental stakeholders (see Chapter 4). The Council advised the Policy Consortium and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on the implementation of BOBF 2014-20 and other child and youth well-being strategies. Comprising approximately 16 senior members under a Chair, the Advisory Council provided expertise and experience from the community and voluntary sectors, academia, and experts working with and for children and young people. As highlighted in the final report on the BOBF 2014-20 implementation (Government of Ireland, 2020[65]), the Advisory Council participated at all levels in the BOBF implementation structures and gradually assumed a monitoring role in relation to specific strategies, including the Participation Strategy, First 5, and the LGBTI+ Strategy. The Advisory Council, officially renamed Children and Young People’s Advisory Council, will continue to operate under Young Ireland with a more diversified membership, including representatives with expertise on key issues such as disability, mental health, inequality, child poverty, etc. (Chapter 8).
Stakeholder interviews conducted by the OECD indicated that there had been limitations on the involvement of civil society via the Advisory Council and the other BOBF 2014-20 implementation structures, at least at the beginning. Stakeholders also reported that the unpaid work of members of the Advisory Council reduced its potential to meaningfully engage with civil society. While the DCEDIY has been reported to showcase good practice in terms of consulting civil society, CSOs engagement across other departments was reported to be less developed and often disjointed.
In OECD interviews, some civil society organisations flagged that consultations on child and youth-related matters were perceived as pro forma, demonstrating an expectation that their role could be further strengthened in promoting accountability. With the Advisory Council intended to provide a permanent forum to discuss the implementation of the DCEDIY-led frameworks, public consultations had especially been used by the DCEDIY to inform legislative reforms or policies (Government of Ireland, 2023[77]).
Transparency can positively add to the accountability of policymakers and increase citizens’ trust in public institutions, by enhancing access to information and promoting a sense of shared ownership (OECD, 2020[2]). However, stakeholders interviewed by the OECD highlighted challenges in clearly identifying roles and responsibilities of the different governmental and non-governmental players involved in child and youth well-being policy in Ireland. Limited clarity on the roles and functions of different state and non-state actors further contributed to making accountability lines blurry and, eventually, reducing the efficiency and effectiveness of strategies and policies targeting children and young people.
Non-governmental stakeholders can also foster accountability by pointing to existing gaps in government action and proposing ways to improve results and outcomes. For example, since 2009, the Children’s Rights Alliance, an umbrella organisation of over 100 Irish NGOs working to improve children’s lives in Ireland, has issued an annual report on the performance of the government to improve child outcomes (Children's Right Alliance, 2023[78]). In 2023, the Children’s Rights Alliance Report Cards assessed the performance of the current Programme for Government: Our Shared Future. Using an independent panel of experts from academia and NGOs, the government’s performance is rated yearly on a letter scale for each promise from A (best) to E (worst). The summary assessment is a means to convey gaps and opportunities for improvement to government stakeholders and the wider public. Despite of partly being publicly funded, the Children’s Rights Alliance performs an important function within the accountability ecosystem because of its capacity to draw on independent external expertise (Charities Regulator, 2023[79]).
Accountability to children and young people (and their parents)
Parents, families, and communities must have the opportunity to hold governments accountable in relation to its commitments as set out in strategies and policies. Consultation and other forms of stakeholder engagement practices are important mechanisms to identify the needs of target groups of policy and to provide them with the opportunity to influence decision-making. The OECD Recommendation on Open Government underlines that stakeholder participation increases government inclusiveness and accountability, and calls on governments to “grant all stakeholders equal and fair opportunities to be informed and consulted and actively engage them in all phases of the policy-cycle and service design and delivery” (OECD, 2017[80]).
In Ireland several initiatives have been established to involve children and young people in decision-making at national and subnational levels:
The National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making for 2015-2020 (see Chapter 8) aimed to support children and young people to participate meaningfully in decision-making processes (Government of Ireland, 2015[81]). The final review of the Strategy revealed concerted efforts from national departments and agencies to implement the Strategy with 93% of the actions completed or in progress (Government of Ireland, 2023[82]). According to some governmental stakeholders’ views, participation strategies have been a driver for children and youth participation and are considered a success.
The National Participation Office (NPO) is a permanent office established in 2021 to work with the DCEDIY to manage and co-ordinate some of the main youth participation structures in Ireland – Comhairle na nÓg, Dáil na nÓg, the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive, the National Youth Assembly of Ireland.
The Comhairle na nÓg are child and youth councils in the 31 local authorities of the country, which give children and young people aged 12 to 18 the opportunity to be involved in the development of local services and policies. The National Youth Assembly, which brings together 50 representatives aged between 12 and 24, also intends to create formal links with the local Comhairle na nÓg. Comhairle na nÓg have reporting obligations to national and local authorities. However, fact-finding meetings conducted by the OECD showed that Comhairlí na nÓg are not always clear about what they are expected to report on, leading to disparities and lack of clarity with respect to reporting and accountability lines.
The European Structured Dialogue Process is a participatory structure established by the Council of the European Union to foster debate between young people (15-30 years) and decision-makers and give children and young people the opportunity to influence youth policy development at national and European levels (European Commission, n.d.[83]). The EU Structured Dialogue seems to have strongly overlapping functions with the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive. Also, with a minimum age for participation at 15, there is limited engagement with children in early and middle childhood or non-governmental stakeholders representing their interests. During interviews, it was also reported that BOBF was intended to have a linkage with the Structured Dialogue, but that this process was not regular and it was not clear how input provided by the young people fed into policy development and implementation.
In the framework of BOBF 2014-20, a successful consultative approach was undertaken in order to identify the goals and outcomes of interest of the policy framework. In fact, BOBF built on the learning gained through its predecessor National Children’s Strategy, Our Children – Their Lives (2000-2010), and responded to the substantial public consultation that took place in 2012 to inform the government’s direction for the following seven years. Additional information on this participatory approach for the identification of the national outcomes can be found in the OECD's Analysis of the Monitoring System of Child Policies and Outcomes in Ireland (OECD, 2024[66]). Furthermore, the Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium was an important structure for policymakers to engage with children and young people and to listen to their concerns (Government of Ireland, 2020[65]). It was also intended to have linkages with other participatory structures but the extent to which these have been established is unclear.
The Hub na nÓg was set up by DCEDIY to support the implementation of the National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making 2015-2020 as a national centre of excellence and co-ordination on giving children and young people a voice in decision-making, with a particular focus on seldom-heard children (see Chapter 5). As stated in the Final Review of the National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making 2015-2020, the Hub has contributed to ensure that an increasing number of Government Departments and Agencies consulted with and included children and young people in policy development over the last years (Government of Ireland, 2023[82]).
Despite the existence of multiple participative structures, there is still room for improvement in terms of ensuring accountability to children and young people in Ireland. OECD interviews and the final review report of the National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making 2015-2020 pointed to limited understanding among policymakers of how to involve children and young people in decision-making in practice (Government of Ireland, 2023[82]) and perception that consultations can be resource- and time-consuming. More in general, some interviewees also raised that the extent to which stakeholder engagement of children and young people is expected to contribute to policymaking and to the implementation of child and youth policy frameworks is sometimes unclear to policymakers and departments responsible for carrying public consultations out. Fact-finding meetings also demonstrated that the Comhairle na nÓg are not well-known among some departments.
Additionally, interviewees highlighted that consultation and dialogue processes are not organised regularly and that communication and understanding of how the views of children and young people informed policymaking remain limited. One stakeholder reported that trainings for civil servants in this area started in 2023 and could close this gap in the future. Although the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Participation includes a requirement to provide feedback to and follow up with consultation participants, there appears to be room for improvement in closing the feedback loop and, in some cases, addressing the reported resistance among policymakers to modify decisions in response to the consultation results. If feedback loops are not properly closed, public authorities risk discouraging stakeholders from participating in consultations again in the future and reducing the benefits of participation, such as increased public trust, efficacy, and agency (OECD, 2022[84]). Aiming to address these challenges, Young Ireland, the new national Policy Framework for Children and Young People, foresees the development of a detailed Cross Government Action Plan for Participation led by DCEDIY, to progress high-level actions with the objective to embed the voice of children and young people in decision-making and build capacities to that effect (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]).
Besides participatory structures directly targeted to children and young people, ensuring accountability to younger children in particular implies accountability to parents and families. Complaints and feedback mechanisms can provide useful tools to enable children, parents, and families to raise concerns about policies and programmes affecting them. However, they may not always be accessible to all, particularly families and children who are marginalised or vulnerable. In the framework of BOBF 2014-20, feedback mechanisms were set up for young people but not for their parents or families.
An informative function directed to children and their families on matters related to the rights and welfare of children is played by the Ombudsman for Children that, as illustrated previously, plays an important role in strengthening accountability as independent oversight institution safeguarding the rights of children in Ireland. The Ombudsman for Children’s Office Annual Report for 2022 published in May 2023 revealed that education was issue raising most complaints (30%), with bullying, expulsion or suspension, and special education resources featuring in many of the submissions (Ombusdman for Children, 2023[85]).
Financial accountability
In the public sector, financial accountability refers to holding public institutions accountable for the way they manage and spend resources. Fostering financial accountability throughout the budget cycle can contribute to more efficient and effective service delivery (OECD, 2020[2]), including in child and youth well-being. To ensure that public resources are dedicated to improving policy outcomes for children and young people, public finance management systems should allow to assess whether resources have been spent in the intended manner and whether they have been used efficiently and effectively to achieve their aim (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2014[86]). A variety of mechanisms should be put in place to strengthen financial oversight, such as accountability through the parliament, ministries, supreme audit institutions, ombudspersons, external bodies including independent human rights institutions, and citizen-led accountability mechanisms (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2014[86]).
In Ireland, the Constitution adopted in 1937 sets a series of provisions relevant to the Irish “system of accountability for public moneys” (Moretti et al., 2019[87]), as briefly explained in Box 7.7.
According to the Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann), all government departments, including DCEDIY, have their expenditures managed through the government’s treasury single account, the Central Fund. Expenditures are authorised by the Houses of the Oireachtas through the annual Estimates/Appropriations process or funded through standing charges on the Central Fund. Each year the government brings forward estimates of expenditures and receipts and presents these estimates in an Expenditure Report to Dáil Éireann, the chamber of the Oireachtas directly elected by the people, for consideration. The Oireachtas exercises some form of budgetary oversight through the review and approval of the budget, including for child and youth policies and services.
Source: (Moretti et al., 2019[87]), Financial Reporting in Ireland.
The annual Expenditure Reports prepared by the government are publicly released and show expenditures by Vote. Each Vote is a coherent area of government expenditure, which falls under the responsibility of a single government department or office, with one or more Votes covering the functions of each government department or office within central Government (Moretti et al., 2019[87]). Relevant Vote groups for child and youth well-being in the 2023 Budget Expenditure Report are: Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; Education; Health; Justice; Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and Social Protection. The Report also provides details on the programmes included in the expenditures of each Vote (Government of Ireland, 2023[88]). As pointed out by the OECD in a previous report (Moretti et al., 2019[87]), although the Vote structure appears to be well known and understood by users, it still poses some challenges as it does not fully align with the responsibilities of government departments and offices. Notably, when a government department is responsible for more than one vote, there is no aggregated vision of their total resources and spending. As a result, information on spending allocated to government programmes targeting children and young people is difficult to obtain.
The past decade has seen some changes to the traditional budget system in Ireland (Moretti et al., 2019[87]), such as the introduction of the performance budgeting initiative in 2011. Since 2017, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) prepares annual Public Service Performance Reports, which provide an overview of how public funds have been allocated for each vote group, how funds have been used and the impact of public spending on the Irish society (Government of Ireland, n.a.[89]). As an example, in its section devoted to the spending of the DCEDIY, the 2021 Public Service Performance Report lists the high-level goals set by the Department in its Statement of Strategy 2021-2023. It then shows the Department’s total expenditures by type and by programme and compares them to estimates and to the 2020 expenditures. It also displays some key measurable outputs (e.g., percentage of children in care who are in foster care placement) and impacts (e.g., percentage of children in care in full-time education). The Report also includes similar information on outputs and impacts for the main programmes run by the Department and included as part of its expenditures (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, 2022[90]). Since it provides information on some key outputs and impacts as well, the Performance Report is an important tool to support the Oireachtas Committees (see Box 7.4) in scrutinising spending and engaging in a dialogue with line ministers on performance. It also contributes to improving transparency by providing more information to legislatures and the public.
At the end of the financial year, each department or office is required to prepare a cash-based account, known as appropriation account, for each voted service administered by it (Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, n.a.[91]). The outturn for the year is compared to the sums granted by Dáil Éireann based on the cash amounts of payments and receipts (Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, n.a.[91]). Requirements exist also in relation to other State bodies and funds, which have to present their accounts or financial statements to their sponsoring government department every year (Moretti et al., 2019[87]). The Board of Tusla, for instance, produces annual financial statements to disclose the financial position of the Agency (Tusla, 2021[92]).
The Comptroller and Auditor General, as mandated by the Constitution, audits the accounts of funds administered by or under the authority of the Oireachtas (Moretti et al., 2019[87]), including, for what concerns child and youth well-being, the Appropriation Accounts and the funds administered by government departments (e.g., the DCEDIY, the Department of Education, etc.), as well as Tusla’s financial statements. It is independent from both government and parliament. Audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General provide an assessment covering the accuracy and completeness of the accounts and ensure that the accounts have been prepared in the approved format (Moretti et al., 2019[87]).
As stated in BOBF 2014-20, additional mechanisms were envisaged to promote financial accountability mechanisms for child and youth policy in consultation with DPER, which is mandated to serve the public interest through sound governance of public expenditure and by leading and enabling reform across the Civil and Public Service (Government of Ireland, n.d.[93]). Financial accountability was envisaged to be strengthened by the development of a specific mechanism to track and analyse expenditures on children and young people across departments and agencies (Government of Ireland, 2014[3]). Indeed, child and youth-sensitive budget planning, monitoring and expenditure tracking can help assess whether the amounts allocated are used for their intended purpose. It is therefore important to set up a robust budget classification system that allows the tracking of spending along administrative, economic, functional, and programmatic lines (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2014[86]). OECD countries have strengthened financial accountability in the field of child and youth policy by developing specific mechanisms allowing to track public expenditures on children and young people and to assess their effectiveness, as in the case of New Zealand (Box 7.8).
With the adoption of the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, the main (budget) Appropriation Bill in New Zealand must include a report indicating progress made towards meeting the nine targets set in the Act and explaining whether and to what extent, the allocated budget is expected to contribute to reducing child poverty.
The latest figures released for 2022/23 by Stats NZ, New Zealand’s official data agency, show that five out of nine child poverty measures have seen statistically significant reductions since the baseline year of 2018. By connecting policy implementation to specific targets and the annual government budget, financial accountability of the responsible Minister before the Parliament is strengthened through clear reporting and oversight mechanisms. Under the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, the responsible Minister must present a copy of the Government Statistician’s report on the latest poverty statistics to the House of the Representatives following its publication, and must also report any non-compliance with child poverty reduction targets that the Government sets.
Source: (The Treasury, 2023[94]).
In Ireland, while there has been some work undertaken in this regard, the results of these efforts appear limited and do not meet the original BOBF 2014-20 aim. For example, although the Public Service Performance Reports show some details on departments’ expenditures by programme, they do not contain conclusive and straightforward information, which would allow to track and quantify the investments made across the whole of government for the implementation of BOBF 2014-20 and other DCEDIY-led strategies focused on children and young people. In 2022, the DCEDIY published a pilot study to examine the spending of the Irish government on children, focusing on the current expenditure of that same department for the year 2019 (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Inclusion and Youth, 2022[95]). This exercise was also conducted to support the implementation of the Second Report for the Understanding Life in Ireland: The Well-being Framework, which aims to evaluate and improve the quality of life of people in Ireland. As such, the study is meant to be the first step of a longer-term process aiming to assess the adequacy of current and future expenditures to meet children’s needs and, eventually, link government expenditures to outcomes. The study report highlights the main challenges encountered during the roll-out of the pilot, notably the difficulty to identify the overall budget share spent on children in Ireland. The report also suggests that a wider evidence-based change to government budget is needed in Ireland in order to align spending with policy goals (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Inclusion and Youth, 2022[95]). To advance in this regard, the Blueprint of the Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028, published in August 2022, highlighted that the successor national policy framework for children and young people should include commitments with respect to, inter alia, piloting the introduction of child and youth budgeting and strengthening reporting to government on annual expenditures on children and young people (Government of Ireland, 2022[96]). Indeed, Young Ireland commits to further developing the use of child budgeting to examine the allocation and outcomes assessment across its five National Outcomes (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]). Recently, the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach also started co-ordinating spending plans on child poverty and child well-being across Departments and published a report outlining relevant actions and measures identified by twelve Government Departments in Budget 2024 to that effect (Government of Ireland, 2023[97]).
Public accountability
Government transparency and tailored communication with youth and children and their parents is the first step to establish meaningful participation in the policy cycle (OECD, 2020[62]). Results from the 2021 OECD survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions (OECD, 2021[98]) indicate that there is a more general need to better communicate the results of government action to citizens across OECD countries. Transparency towards and effective communication with stakeholders can underpin accountability and provide legitimacy for the use of public resources (OECD, 2020[62]).
In Ireland, the different strategies related to child and youth are all made publicly available online, including most of the action plans and reports. However, it is sometimes difficult to find updated documents for the current or past year. For example, concerning the First 5 strategy, the annual implementation reports for 2020 and for 2021/2022 were made available only in June 2023 (Government of Ireland, 2023[99]). For BOBF 2014-20, the strategy explicitly mentioned that public accountability would be achieved through the online publication of annual progress reports. Yet, CSOs reported during fact-finding interviews that they are having low visibility and knowledge of BOBF 2014-20, partially due to the proliferation of strategies and the lack of audience-focused documentation summarising the content and goals of each strategic document in an easy way. The same conclusion is reached in the OECD’s Analysis of the Monitoring System of Child Policies and Outcomes in Ireland (OECD, 2024[66]), which highlights that the communication and dissemination of findings from the monitoring of BOBF are still scarce and should be reconsidered under Young Ireland.
With a view to strengthening public accountability, Young Ireland includes communication and awareness raising as a key focus area (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2023[23]), as further discussed in Chapter 8.
References
[79] Charities Regulator (2023), Children’s Rights Alliance - Republic of Ireland, https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/search-the-register-of-charities/charity-detail?srchstr=Children%27s%20Rights%20Alliance®id=20031909.
[60] Child Law Project (2023), About the Project, https://www.childlawproject.ie/about/.
[61] Child Law Project (2023), Reports, https://www.childlawproject.ie/publications/.
[72] Childen and Young People’s Services Committees (2019), Shared Vision, Next Steps 2019-2014, https://assets.gov.ie/38536/8b1c7844c61c40758f28975a22218648.pdf.
[71] Children and Young People’s Services Committees (n.a.), Purpose, https://www.cypsc.ie/about-us/purpose.443.html.
[74] Children and Young People’s Services Committees (2017), CYPSC Planning and Reporting Framework, https://www.cypsc.ie/_fileupload/Documents/Resources/About%20Us/CYPSC-PR-Framework-JUNE-2017.pdf.
[73] Children and Young People’s Services Committees (n.a.), Governance, https://www.cypsc.ie/about-us/governance-of-the-cypsc-initiative.446.html.
[76] Children and Young People’s Services Committees (n.a.), Resources, https://www.cypsc.ie/resources.7.html.
[78] Children’s Right Alliance (2023), Report Card 2023, https://www.childrensrights.ie/sites/default/files/submissions_reports/files/Report%20Card%202023_0.pdf.
[51] Citizens Information (n.a.), Mother and baby and county home institutions, https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/adoption_and_fostering/mother_and_baby_homes.html.
[12] Citizens Information Board (2023), Standards and Accountability, https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/national_government/standards_and_accountability/.
[35] Citizens Information Board (2023), Tribunals of inquiry, https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/national_government/tribunals_and_investigations/tribunals_of_inquiry.html.
[28] Department of Children and Youth Affairs (2018), Mid-term review of Better Outcomes, Better Future. The national policy framework for children and young people 2014-2020, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/38401/b6fd3f579d514bb79f65d692970b55e6.pdf#page=null.
[95] Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Inclusion and Youth (2022), The Irish Government’s Expenditure on Children in 2019: A Pilot Study of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, https://assets.gov.ie/242767/65702cd4-3d11-4933-9def-6bd21bfad465.pdf.
[23] Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2023), Young Ireland: National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/278951/046fc48f-5eb5-4d6f-aa5d-0a6ec322b723.pdf#page=null.
[90] Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (2022), Public Service Performance Report 2021, https://assets.gov.ie/224720/dadde206-f647-40aa-a6b3-c376115cba1b.pdf.
[20] Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2022), Child poverty reduction and wellbeing legislation, https://www.childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz/our-aspirations/context/child-poverty-reduction-and-wellbeing-legislation.
[19] Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2019), Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, https://www.childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2019-08/child-youth-wellbeing-strategy-2019.pdf.
[15] Dirwan, G. and O. Thévenon (2023), “Integrated policy making for child well-being: Common approaches and challenges ahead”, OECD Papers on Well-being and Inequalities, No. 16, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1a5202af-en.
[48] Donson, F. and D. O’Donovan (2014), Critical junctures: regulatory failures, Ireland’s administrative state and the Office of the Ombudsman, https://cora.ucc.ie/server/api/core/bitstreams/0016e720-68bf-407a-af0e-18988ff4cc81/content.
[83] European Commission (n.d.), Structured Dialogue, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/structured-dialogue.
[18] Finnish Government (2022), Implementation plan for the National Child Strategy, https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/164040.
[97] Government of Ireland (2023), Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2024 to Reduce Child Poverty and Promote Well-being, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/276511/000d959e-9721-4168-92a5-db365dd81ec8.pdf#page=null.
[88] Government of Ireland (2023), Budget 2023 Expenditure Report, https://assets.gov.ie/235707/9407484e-6ea9-421f-87e0-ea528641ff8b.pdf.
[22] Government of Ireland (2023), Cabinet Committees of the 33rd Government, https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/dedaf-cabinet-committees-of-the-33rd-government/.
[77] Government of Ireland (2023), Consultations, https://www.gov.ie/en/consultations/?topic=children-and-youth-affairs.
[82] Government of Ireland (2023), Final Review of the National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-making 2015 – 2020, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/80796-final-review-of-the-national-strategy-on-children-and-young-peoples-participation-in-decision-making-2015-2020/.
[67] Government of Ireland (2023), From Poverty to Potential: A Programme for Child Poverty and Well-being. Initial Programme Plan: July 2023 - December 2025, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/266235/6c4bf557-373d-4cb6-a91e-36f27106fe8b.pdf#page=null.
[26] Government of Ireland (2023), Membership of Cabinet Committees of the 32nd Government, https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/483edf-cabinet-committees/.
[49] Government of Ireland (2023), Minister O’Gorman welcomes the appointment of Ms Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC as Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/5def2-minister-ogorman-welcomes-the-appointment-of-ms-caoilfhionn-gallagher-kc-as-special-rapporteur-on-child-protection/#:~:text=The%20Rapporteur%20is%20accountable%20to,designed%20to%20enhance%20child%20protection.
[99] Government of Ireland (2023), Minister O’Gorman publishes progress reports for First 5, the government strategy for babies, young children and their families, https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/69f3f-minister-ogorman-publishes-progress-reports-for-first-5-the-government-strategy-for-babies-young-children-and-their-families/.
[100] Government of Ireland (2023), Public Consultation on a Review of Regulations for Early Learning and Care, https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/bef61-public-consultation-on-a-review-of-regulations-for-early-learning-and-care/.
[96] Government of Ireland (2022), Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028 Blueprint, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/233252/a5fce678-ec09-43f0-b33b-7ee7aa7777e3.pdf#page=null.
[65] Government of Ireland (2020), Better Outcomes Brighter Futures, Annual report for the final year of implementation, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/d4e44-better-outcomes-brighter-futures-sixth-annual-report-january-december-2020/.
[64] Government of Ireland (2016), Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures Mid-Term Review. BOBF Advisory Council Perspective, https://assets.gov.ie/26803/c9179d1adbde46c898993186149ea920.pdf.
[81] Government of Ireland (2015), National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making 2015-2020, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/9128db-national-strategy-on-children-and-young-peoples-participation-in-dec/.
[3] Government of Ireland (2014), Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, 2014-2020, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/775847-better-outcomes-brighter-futures/.
[93] Government of Ireland (n.d.), About the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/919c7d-about-dper/.
[75] Government of Ireland (n.a.), Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC), https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c4bc0-children-and-young-peoples-services-committees-cypsc/.
[27] Government of Ireland (2022a), Civil Service. Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2022, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2022-03-08/2/.
[89] Government of Ireland (n.a.), Public Service Performance Reports, https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/61d3f-public-service-performance-reports/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/en/collection/68680c-public-service-performance-reports/.
[5] Government of Ireland (n.a.), Review of the Child Care Act 1991, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/97d109-review-of-the-child-care-act-1991/.
[56] Health Information and Quality Authority (2018), Overview of HIQA regulation of social care and healthcare services 2017, https://www.hiqa.ie/sites/default/files/2018-06/Regulation-overview-2017_0.pdf.
[57] Health information and Quality Authority (n.a.), Children’s Services, https://www.hiqa.ie/areas-we-work/childrens-services.
[39] Houses of the Oireachtas (2023), Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen debate - Thursday, 20 Apr 2023, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/committee_on_public_petitions_and_the_ombudsmen/2023-04-20/4/.
[58] Houses of the Oireachtas (2023), Interim Report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Statements, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2023-01-26/29/.
[36] Houses of the Oireachtas (2023), Parliamentary Budget Office, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/how-parliament-is-run/houses-of-the-oireachtas-service/parliamentary-budget-office/.
[33] Houses of the Oireachtas (2023), Parliamentary Questions, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/search/?searchType=questions&questionType=all&datePeriod=term&fromDate=01%2F07%2F2012&originalFilter=%2Fen%2Fdebates%2Fquestions%2F%3FdatePeriod%3Dterm%26questionType%3Dall%26fromDate%3D01%252F07%252F2012%26resultsPerPage%3D50.
[29] Houses of the Oireachtas (2022), Mental Health Service. Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 May 2022, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2022-05-26/5/.
[40] Houses of the Oireachtas (2021), About committees, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/committees/about-committees/.
[30] Houses of the Oireachtas (2021), Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/committees/33/children-equality-disability-integration-and-youth/.
[68] Houses of the Oireachtas (2013), Child and Family Agency Act 2013, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2013/81/.
[7] Irish Statute Book (2020), Education (Welfare) Act 2000, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2000/act/22/enacted/en/pdf.
[6] Irish Statute Book (2015), Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/9/enacted/en/pdf.
[8] Irish Statute Book (2004), Health Act 2004, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2004/act/42/enacted/en/pdf.
[46] Irish Statute Book (2002), Ombudsman For Children Act, 2002, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2002/act/22/enacted/en/html.
[9] Irish Statute Book (2001), Mental Health Act 2001, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/act/25/enacted/en/pdf.
[10] Irish Statute Book (2001), National Youth Work Act 2001, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/act/42/enacted/en/pdf.
[31] Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2023), Report on Assessments of Need for Children, https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_children_equality_disability_integration_and_youth/reports/2023/2023-02-14_report-on-assessments-of-need-for-children_en.pdf.
[32] Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2021), Report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill, https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_children_equality_disability_integration_and_youth/reports/2021/2021-12-14_report-on-pre-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-birth-information-and-tracing-bill_en.pdf.
[17] Lapsen Oikeudet (2023), The Child Strategy follow-up report provides information for the new government, https://childstrategy.fi/2023/04/the-child-strategy-follow-up-report-provides-information-for-the-new-government/.
[16] Lapsen Oikeudet (2021), Child Strategy, https://www.lapsenoikeudet.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/child-strategy-ENG.pdf.
[41] Law Reform Commission of Ireland (n.a.), Ombusdman for Children Act 2002 Revised – Updated to 26 December 2018, https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/2002/act/22/revised/en/html.
[87] Moretti, D. et al. (2019), “Financial reporting in Ireland”, OECD Journal on Budgeting, https://doi.org/10.1787/ea5cae13-en.
[55] National Review Panel (2021), Annual Report, https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/NRP_Annual_Report_2021_Final.pdf.
[66] OECD (2024), Analysis of the Monitoring System for Child Policies and Outcomes, fortcoming, OECD Publishing.
[84] OECD (2022), OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f765caf6-en.
[1] OECD (2022), Recommendation of the Council on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0474.
[98] OECD (2021), Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions, https://www.oecd.org/governance/an-updated-oecd-framework-on-drivers-of-trust-in-public-institutions-to-meet-current-and-future-challenges-b6c5478c-en.htm.
[62] OECD (2020), Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice: Fit for All Generations?, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/c3e5cb8a-en.
[2] OECD (2020), Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance: Baseline Features of Governments that Work Well, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/c03e01b3-en.
[25] OECD (2018), Centre Stage: The organisation and functions of the centre of government in OECD countries, https://www.oecd.org/gov/report-centre-stage-2.pdf.
[14] OECD (2018), OECD Toolkit on Mainstreaming and Implementing Gender Equality, OECD, https://www.oecd.org/gov/toolkit-for-mainstreaming-and-implementing-gender-equality.pdf.
[13] OECD (2017), OECD Budget Transparency Toolkit: Practical Steps for Supporting Openness, Integrity and Accountability in Public Financial Management, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264282070-en.
[80] OECD (2017), Recommendation of the Council on Open Government, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0438.
[38] OECD (2016), Review of budget oversight by parliament: Ireland, https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/budget-16-5jlv0r0g8zd7.pdf?expires=1683646990&id=id&accname=ocid84004878&checksum=8527D654FB7EB7EB7B18A46FD6E3E39B.
[24] OECD (2008), OECD Public Management Reviews: Ireland 2008, https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/oecd-public-management-reviews-ireland-2008_9789264043268-en.
[70] OECD (2008), OECD Public Management Reviews: Ireland 2008: Towards an Integrated Public Service, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264043268-en.
[11] Office of the Attorney General (2013), Child and Family Agency Act 2013, https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/act/40/enacted/en/html.
[59] Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (2020), OCAG information note: public accountability and audit, https://www.audit.gov.ie/en/about-us/the-comptroller-and-auditor-general/public%20accountability%20and%20audit/public%20accountability%20and%20audit%20-%20information%20note.pdf.
[91] Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (n.a.), Appropriation Accounts, https://www.audit.gov.ie/en/about-us/who-we-audit/government-departments/.
[45] Office of the Ombudsman (2023), Annual Report 2022. Driving Fairness in the Delivery of Public Services, https://www.ombudsman.ie/publications/annual-reports/Ombudsman-Annual-Report-2022-Final-for-Web.pdf.
[44] Office of the Ombudsman (2022), Annual Report 2021, https://www.ombudsman.ie/publications/annual-reports/Ombudsman-AR-2021-EN-WEB.pdf.
[43] Office of the Ombudsman (2017), Taking Stock. An investigation by the Ombudsman into complaint handling and issues identified in complaints made about the Chld and Family Agency (Tusla), https://www.ombudsman.ie/publications/reports/taking-stock/Executive-Summary.pdf.
[50] O’Mahony, P. (2022), Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/242675/ae5ade7f-2c30-45b2-942c-1a2fc87847b8.pdf#page=null.
[42] Ombudsman for Children (n.a.), About us, https://www.oco.ie/about-us/.
[85] Ombusdman for Children (2023), 1,812 complaints to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office as Ireland falls behind on children’s rights, https://www.oco.ie/news/1812-complaints-to-the-ombudsman-for-childrens-office-as-ireland-falls-behind-on-childrens-rights/.
[47] Ombusdman for Children (2022), Review of the Ombudsman for Children Act. A report by RDJ commissioned by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office, https://www.oco.ie/app/uploads/2022/12/Review-of-the-Ombudsman-for-Children-Act-2002.pdf.
[63] Oranga Tamariki Action Plan (2023), Our purpose, https://www.orangatamarikiactionplan.govt.nz/about/our-purpose/.
[37] Parliamentary Budget Office (2019), Childcare in Ireland: An Analysis of Market Dynamics, Public Programmes and Accessibility. PBO Publication 70 of 2019, https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/parliamentaryBudgetOffice/2019/2019-11-14_childcare-in-ireland-an-analysis-of-market-dynamics-public-programmes-and-accessibility_en.pdf.
[21] Parliamentary Counsel Office (2018), Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2018/0057/latest/LMS8294.html?search=ts_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_Child+Poverty+Reduction+Act+2018_resel_25_a&p=1.
[34] Period Poverty Sub-Committee (2021), Period Poverty in Ireland. Discussion Paper, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/122535/db3c2a18-297a-40de-a2bd-c5707961799e.pdf#page=null.
[53] Ryan Report Monitoring Group (2014), Ryan Report Implementation Plan. Fourth Progress Report, https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/27258/1/RyanRepFourthProgressDec2014.pdf.
[52] The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (n.a.), Welcome to our website, http://childabusecommission.ie/.
[94] The Treasury (2023), Child Poverty Report 2023, https://budget.govt.nz/budget/2023/wellbeing/child-poverty-report/index.htm.
[54] Tusla (2023), National Review Panel, https://www.tusla.ie/national-review-panel/about-us1/.
[92] Tusla (2021), Annual Report & Financial Statements 2021, https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Tusla_Annual_Report_and_Financial_Statements_2021.pdf.
[69] Tusla (n.a.), Tusla Performance and Activity Reporting Site, https://www.tusla.ie/data-figures/.
[86] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2014), Towards better investment in the rights of the child: report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/792330?ln=fr#record-files-collapse-header.
[4] United Nations (1989), UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/crc.pdf.
Note
← 1. Further analyses of the monitoring and evaluation systems for child and youth policies and outcomes in Ireland are conducted as part of Output 3.2 of the project.