Minister O’Gorman launches the Comhairle na nÓg Five Year Development Plan and announces increase in the Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund

Roderic O’Gorman, T.D., Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has launched the Comhairle na nÓg Five Year Development Plan at the annual Comhairle na nÓg Organisers Information Event.

Comhairle na nÓg is the structure across Ireland’s 31 local authority areas that gives children and young people a voice in decision-making on government policy, and gives rise to Ireland’s recognition as a world-leader on youth participation. This achievement has not gone unnoticed and yesterday Taoiseach, Micheál Martin T.D., took time to directly address the Comhairle na nÓg organisers, highlighting the importance of the work done by the Comhairlí. Speaking at the event An Taoiseach said:

The Comhairle na nÓg Five Year Development Plan, launched by Minister O’Gorman at the event, builds on the strengths of Comhairle na nÓg as a structure for allowing children and young people to have a say in decisions that affect them. The plan aims for Comhairle na nÓg to reach more children and young people, influence more decision-makers and deliver on Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to make a true difference to the lives of young people.

Launching the Five Year Plan, Minister O’Gorman said:

The Five Year Plan was developed through consultation with young people and with stakeholders under the guidance of a Steering Committee established specifically for this purpose.

The Plan is available here. A youth friendly version is under development and will be launched later this year.

Additional Funding for each Comhairle na nÓg

Funding and resourcing of Comhairle na nÓg is a key element in the Comhairle na nÓg Five Year Development Plan. Comhairle na nÓg organisers welcomed Minister O’Gorman’s announcement that additional funding of €5,000 is being made available to each Comhairle to start implementing the plan. In addition, an increase in annual funding through Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund, from 2022 onwards, will result in an increased funding of approximately 25% for each Comahirlí.

ENDS

Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund

The Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund is annual funding from DCEDIY that is distributed among the Comhairlí across 31 local authorities. The fund is administered by Pobal.

Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund Annual Report 2020

Comhairle na nÓg Development Fund Annual Report 2020 from Pobal was also launched at the event. Pobal administers this fund collaboration with the Department since 2011. The Report is available on Pobal’s website here.

Comhairle na nÓg Annual Organisers Information Event

This event provides an opportunity for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) to engage with those who deliver the range of services for Comhairle na nÓg, including Local Authority personnel and Comhairle Co-ordinators. It provides an important opportunity to acknowledge the work carried out, to update relevant personnel on key policy developments and to present the annual report on Comhairle activities from Pobal who administer and audit the Comhairle na nÓg Development fund on behalf of the Department.

Comhairle na nÓg Five Year Development Plan

The 5-Year Development Plan for Comhairle na nÓg sets out a clear Vision and Mission for Comhairle na nÓg for the next five years, supported by a set of Values that express the shared beliefs of and what’s important to the Comhairle na nÓg community. The Plan has identified five strategic goals, and a set of SMART (Specified, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based) objectives and actions to deliver these goals.

Vision: Comhairle Na nÓg is recognised locally and nationally as the go to structure empowering young people of all backgrounds to speak up, be heard and influence decisions on matters that affect their lives

Mission: Our mission is to be the permanent rights-based structure that represents the voice of young people in Ireland and provides them with a platform to meaningfully engage with decision-makers and influence matters that affect them

Goals and Objectives:

1. Extending the reach and influence of Comhairle na nÓg by engaging more broadly with young people and decision-makers

• Expand recruitment of young people, secure commitments from Department of Education and education bodies and actively recruit seldom-heard youth
• Strengthen the collective voice of Comhairle na nÓg through collaboration between Comhairlí, connecting Comhairle na nÓg structures with local and national decision-making structures, secure commitments from decision makers and ensure that Comhairle na nÓg are the primary mechanism for new youth participation initiatives

2. Improving the operational delivery

• Improve internal structures and processes
• Guidance and support for Comhairle na nÓg members, with ongoing member- consultations to continuously improve operations
• capacity building and development for professionals delivering Comhairle na nÓg
• Adequately funding and resourcing Comhairle na nÓg
• Applying the principles and tools from the National Participation Framework for Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making and promote the Framework among stakeholders
• Regulatory compliance including Child Safeguarding and GDPR

3. Enhancing and improving the culture and communications of Comhairle na nÓg in order to be more widely recognised

• Branding and profile of Comhairle na nÓg (including Dáil na nÓg) to communicate that they are the principal mechanism for consulting young people locally and nationally
• National communication plan to target specific cohorts: young people; adults: local and national decision-makers, parents, public and stakeholders
• Internal communication plan between Comhairlí and associated parties
• Culture reflects Comhairle values, diverse and inclusive membership (seldom heard young people)

4. Strengthening and organising the internal and external structures across all the Comhairle na nÓg relationships

• Establish National Participation Office to manage Comhairle na nÓg, Dáil na nÓg and Comhairle na nÓg National Executive and other youth participation structures, with assigned responsibility for stakeholder engagement and relationship management
• Mechanisms for cross-Government engagement with Dáil na nÓg and the Comhairle na nÓg National Executive and cross-Departmental engagement on the National Participation Office and 5 year plan implementation
• Strengthen local Comhairle na nÓg Steering Committee structure
• Networking between Local Authority Coordinators and Comhairle Coordinators across counties
• Maintain connections with Comahirle Alumni (past members over 18)
• National and international collaborations and funding partnerships
• Consider a legislative basis for the Comhairle na nÓg local and national structures.

5. Building an evidence base and innovating

• Explore opportunities to include voice of children under 12 years in decision-making
• Embed research, evidence based innovation across all elements of Comhairle operations
• Explore online operations and invest in technology
• Learn from and contribute to international trends and developments; network and share at European and international level
• Continuous improvement, review, evaluation and reporting

Background on Comhairle na nÓg

Comhairle na nÓg are child and youth councils operating in each of the 31 Local Authority areas across Ireland. Comhairle na nÓg gives children and young people the opportunity to be involved in, and have a voice in the development of, local and national services and policies and any issues that affect them in their local area. It is the recognised national structure for participation by children and young people (aged 12-17 years) in decision-making. Comhairle na nÓg is funded and managed through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). At the local level, Comhairle na nÓg is managed by Local Authorities.

Objectives of Comhairle na nÓg:

1. To encourage young people to identify, prioritise and progress topics that are important to them through enabling their influence on decision-makers to take action

2. Objective is, to act as a consultative forum for adult decision-makers who want to include the views of young people in their work, whether it is policy development or gathering feedback on services and facilities.