Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 February 2004
119 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has received the post budget analysis offered by CORI's justice commission; if her attention has been drawn to its conclusion that not enough was done in the 2004 budget to tackle social exclusion effectively and that its impact on tackling substantial poverty and inequality will be limited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3870/04]
View answerThe analysis and critique of budget 2004 undertaken by the CORI justice commission sets out its views on the range of measures contained in the budget and its perspective on the likely impact of those measures in terms of tackling poverty and social exclusion. While welcoming some aspects of the budget and acknowledging that the social welfare increases provided for in the budget were well ahead of what had been forecast, CORI argues that the impact of the budget will be relatively limited in regard to tackling poverty and social exclusion.
I do not agree with CORI's analysis on this occasion. A social welfare package of €630 million was included in budget 2004. The effect of this increase is that the total social welfare spend of €11.62 billion in 2004 will be almost double that of 1997, notwithstanding the substantial fall in unemployment figures since then.
More generally, it is my view that the budget must also be placed in the context of the wider economic policies which have been successfully pursued by this Government in recent years and which have contributed to improving the lives of all sectors of Irish society. The effect of these policies can be seen in the substantial increases in employment levels we have witnessed; in the reductions in unemployment and in particular in long-term unemployment; in the investment in infrastructure and in public services and in the substantial increases in real terms in household incomes at all income levels.
The positive effects of Government policies can be seen also in the sharp decreases recorded in consistent poverty levels over recent years. Consistent poverty — a combined measure using income thresholds and the experience of deprivation — is the measure used for the global poverty reduction target in the revised national anti-poverty strategy, NAPS. Consistent poverty has fallen from 15.1% in 1994 to some 5.2% in 2001.
The success to date in tackling consistent poverty has critically been dependent on ensuring that we have sustained economic growth in order to generate the resources necessary for enhanced welfare and other public services. This sensible and prudent approach remains valid today, and indeed may be even more relevant at a time when growth rates have abated from the record levels we enjoyed in more recent times.
The drive towards tackling poverty and social exclusion continues to be a key and central element of the Government's programme and I believe that we can continue to improve the standard of living of the most vulnerable in our society in the period ahead.
