Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 October 2013
26. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether all Government policy should be poverty proofed; if she has any proposals in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43344/13]
View answerPoverty Impact Assessment (formerly poverty proofing) is a requirement under the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016. Poverty impact assessment is the process by which Government departments, local authorities and state agencies assess policies and programmes at design, implementation and review stages in relation to the likely impact that they will have or have had on poverty and on inequalities which are likely to lead to poverty, with a view to poverty reduction. In line with this requirement, the Cabinet Handbook states that memoranda for Government involving significant policy proposals should "indicate clearly the impact of the proposal on groups in poverty or at risk of falling into poverty". Official guidelines for poverty impact assessment are available on the Department’s website (https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Guidelines-and-Templates.aspx). The Social Inclusion Policy Division provides assistance to Government Departments and other bodies on the application of the guidelines. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of individual Government Departments and other bodies to adhere to the guidelines. The Government decided in 2012 to incorporate poverty impact assessment into an integrated social impact assessment in order to support the implementation of the national social target for poverty reduction and to ensure greater policy coordination in the social sphere. Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology to estimate the distributive impact of policy changes in relation to employment, income and services on vulnerable groups in society. It is widely practiced at EU level, in particular by the European Commission. At national level, social impact assessment is in its infancy.
In March 2013, the Department published the Social impact assessment of the main welfare and direct tax measures in Budget 2013. The assessment focuses on the main welfare and direct tax components of the Budget which have a direct impact on household incomes. A similar exercise is planned for Budget 2014.
