The Government is to examine ways of providing leisure activities for teenagers to help reduce their exposure to negative influences, such as drugs and alcohol.
Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan said a consultation process with young people had demonstrated a major demand for organised recreational activities such as sports, music and art.
Teenagers also said they often felt excluded from society and wanted places to "hang out" and socialise.
The National Children's Office has received about 900 responses to its request for input from young people.
Mr Lenihan said yesterday officials would draw on the submissions in the development of ways to open up access to recreation for young people.
"We propose to deal with structured recreation and examine ways for young people to be involved in organised activities, be it recreational sport, membership of clubs or involvement in dance, art and music," the Minister said.
"In developing the policy we will look at what is happening internationally to see if we can devise ways in which young people can be facilitated to get together safely in groups without impinging on other members of the community."
He also said the Government would look at increasing opportunities for young people in marginalised or disadvantaged areas, who have been ill or have a disability, to take part in recreation programmes.
"You will see from all this activity that this Government is committed to providing play and recreational activities for all children and young people," Mr Lenihan said.
The Government has come in for criticism for not providing enough funding for recreation activities and youth clubs for teenagers.
In particular, community-based groups in larger cities and suburbs say they are frustrated at the shortage of resources to maintain existing youth services in the face of often overwhelming demand.
However, Mr Lenihan defended the Government's record and said substantial funding had been provided for new playgrounds across the State in recent years.
He was speaking at the turning of the sod at a new playground and amenity park for children in Timoleague, Co Cork.
"All children need to have somewhere where they can play and express themselves in a safe environment," Mr Lenihan said.
"Too often in the past we have seen that in many areas proper play facilities were not being provided, or that in some instances the facilities in place had seen better days and needed to be refurbished."
