Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Nov 2001

Vol. 543 No. 3

Written Answers. - Anti-Poverty Strategy.

Dick Spring

Question:

68 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the recent United Nations Development Report for 2001, which showed that proportionately more people live in poverty here than in any other industrialised nation outside of the USA; the steps he intends to take to deal with the issues identified in the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26833/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern):

The United Nations human development report represents a useful contribution to our knowledge on human development both globally and in Ireland. However, as a result of the methodology employed by the UN the human poverty index contained in the report does not accurately reflect the results of other research conducted in relation to poverty levels in Ireland. Results from the 1998 Living in Ireland survey conducted by the ESRI show that the numbers affected by consistent poverty are down to 6-8% of the population and it can be expected that further improvements will emerge when the results from the 2000 wave of the survey come to hand.

These figures demonstrate that real progress is being made in tackling poverty and in achieving the target set by this Government of reducing the level of consistent poverty to below 5% by 2004. The weightings ascribed in the calculation by the UN of its human poverty index place particular emphasis on functional illiteracy scores. In this regard, a report on the international adult literacy survey, or IALS, from the Department of Education and Science stated that interpretation of IALS results as revealing a high level of illiteracy in the Irish population was unwarranted and that the assessment was not designed to address the issue of illiteracy at all; the level of difficulty and complexity of tasks assumed that the vast majority of the population were literate.

The Government is however very conscious of the need to tackle issues of illiteracy and £73.6 million has been provided under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 to ensure progress in this area. It is anticipated that upwards of 113,000 people will participate in the adult literacy strategy programme by the end of the plan. While Ireland's position on the index is primarily influenced by the figure for functional illiteracy, Ireland's score on the Index would have been better if more recent and timely data had been used. For example, the index features an unemployment rate of 5.6% from 1997 while last year's UNHDP report used the lower 1998 figure of 4.4% and the unemployment rate has fallen further since then. In addition, the Index suggests that life expectancy rates fell between 1998 and 1999 but the latest information from the Central Statistics Office, Population and Labour Force Projections, 2001-2031, published in 1999, indicate a continuing, steady increase in Irish life expectancy rates. The UN human development report is a useful learning tool but given the rapid rate of change we have experienced over recent years it is important that debate and policy formulation is informed by the most accurate and up to date information available.

Question No. 69 answered with Question No. 42.