Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 June 2018
65. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to resource and implement the national action plan for social inclusion to work towards eliminating poverty; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26573/18]
View answerTackling poverty remains a fundamental aspiration of Irish society and the Programme for a Partnership Government includes a firm commitment to develop a new Integrated Framework for Social Inclusion, to tackle inequality and poverty. This will be a successor to the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 (NAPinclusion) and its 2015-2017 update which concluded last year. My Department is developing the new four year plan for the period 2018-2021. Like its predecessor, the plan will have a ‘whole of Government’ approach that aims to improve outcomes for the vulnerable and marginalised in our society, while recognising a shared responsibility across Government to implement actions to achieve the overall objectives. The theme of the new plan is one of active inclusion, which will enable every citizen, notably the most disadvantaged, to fully participate in society, including having a job. The primary focus will be the reduction of consistent poverty, which in 2016 was 8.3%. This will be achieved through a three pronged approach: supporting incomes through as high as possible a level of employment, and encouraging and assisting people to enter the workforce; setting targets for the level of relevant welfare payments designed to reduce relative poverty among those who cannot (or cannot find) work; and finally improving access to quality services such as health, education, childcare, training, housing, community supports in order to minimize deprivation for all groups and, in particular those who are on relatively low incomes. Officials in my Department are working with their colleagues, both internally and in other departments, to identify specific actions for inclusion in the plan. It is my intention that the plan will be published in Autumn 2018.
