Richard Bruton
Question:66 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the targets of a fresh national anti-poverty strategy. [22282/00]
Written Answers. - Anti-Poverty Strategy.
The national anti-poverty strategy was launched in April 1997 with the overall target of reducing the numbers of those who are consistently poor from 9%-15% of the population to less than 5%-10% by 2007. In 1999, as part of this Government's social inclusion strategy, I announced a revised target to reduce the numbers in consistent poverty to below 5% by 2004. At that time, consideration was also given to moving into a new phase of the national anti-poverty strategy, encompassing a broader social inclusion strategy which would rebase the original targets and begin to consider new areas where a strategic response could be used to alleviate exclusion.
These considerations informed the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, under which we committed ourselves to revising and renewing the national anti-poverty strategy. The methodology underlying the strategy will be reviewed, existing targets reviewed and revised where appropriate and new targets will be considered under the themes of child poverty, women's poverty, health, older people, and housing-accommodation. As a first step towards updating the strategy, a meeting was held with the social partners in July to agree the review process.
Following on from that meeting, a number of working groups, with social partner representation, are currently being established to facilitate the review of targets. The first meetings of the working groups on housing-accommodation and health were held in October and working groups on employment, education, rural poverty and urban disadvantage are also being established. A separate working group will be established, with an independent chairperson, to examine the issues in relation to benchmarking and indexation of social welfare payments.
In line with other commitments in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness in relation to the strategy, the national anti-poverty strategy analysis will be expanded to include emerging causes of poverty such as racism and mechanisms for strengthening the involvement of the social partners will be considered.
The results of our activity over the past three and a half years are conclusive. Consistent poverty has been reduced to 6%-8%, and we are well on our way to achieving the national anti-poverty strategy target of less than 5% by 2004. Unemployment is now 3.8%, with long-term unemployment standing at just 1.6%. We have invested millions of pounds in supports and initiatives that aim to help break the cycle of disadvantage. I am confident that the national anti-poverty strategy review will provide the basis for further progress towards our goal of effectively eradicating poverty.
Question No. 67 taken with Question No. 20.