Is the Government keeping its promises to children?

The Children’s Rights Alliance works to secure the rights of all children in Ireland by campaigning for the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Report Card 2012 evaluates the new Government on its progress since taking office in March 2011, based on the commitments it made in its Programme for Government. It awards a ‘C+’ grade, reflecting a satisfactory attempt to date. However, even with this improved grade, the rights of many children continue to be violated in specific areas particularly those experiencing poverty or in detention in St Patrick’s Institution.

Commitments in Report Card 2012 are organised in the same four sections as previous editions: Education, Health, Material Wellbeing and Safeguarding Childhood. A new section on ‘Realising Children’s Rights’ has been added to capture new commitments in this area. While the topics addressed remain broadly the same there are specific changes within sub-sections, based on the new commitments. These are noted in the text. Given these changes, it is not possible to make direct comparisons with grades awarded in previous years.

Report Card 2012 is intended to reflect children’s lived experience and the impact of decisions taken at policy level on their daily lives. To illustrate this, local and regional stories are featured throughout Report Card 2012, collated from a range of national and local papers. In addition, Ireland’s international obligations to children are highlighted in the overview of
each section.