Chief Minister admits Jersey children face child poverty, promising to 'tackle' issue

Deputy Kristina Moore arriving at the British-Irish Council meeting in Dublin. Credit: ITV Channel

Jersey's Chief Minister has attended talks in Dublin discussing plans to tackle child poverty.

It's the Republic of Ireland's turn to host the British-Irish Council meeting, attended by political leaders from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies.

During the summit on Friday 24 November, Deputy Kristina Moore appeared alongside other leaders to discuss child poverty - something she admitted was an issue in Jersey.

She said: "Children in the Channel Islands do experience child poverty and it's something that we all want to fix.

"Every child should be able to live their best life and the foundations of that life are so very important to their later years and their outcomes in life generally."

Dr Carmel Corrigan was announced as the island's new Children's Commissioner on Tuesday 20 November - leading Jersey's efforts to protect children's rights.

Her appointment will be confirmed at the next States sitting on Tuesday 28 November.

The Children’s Commissioner works for every child and young person in Jersey who is: 

  • Under the age of 18 

  • Under the age of 25 if they have a disability, have been in care, or have been involved with the youth justice system 

  • Placed off-island for their care or treatment 

Deputy Kristina Moore at the discussion of child poverty in the 40th British-Irish Council meeting in Dublin

Deputy Kristina Moore told ITV News: "We are hoping that the assembly will agree to the appointment of a new children's commissioner in the next month.

"This a really significant and important appointment for the island, particularly for the island's children.

"The previous Children's Commissioner has done some fantastic work embedding children's rights into our society and our community and that work needs to be continued."

"It was quite enlightening and inspiring to hear from others experience and that will help form our work as we progress to creating an early years families task group to really tackle this issue at home."

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