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Anti-Poverty Strategy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 December 2020

Thursday, 3 December 2020

Questions (60)

Patrick Costello

Question:

60. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the social inclusion roadmap; and the status of its implementation. [39663/20]

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Written answers

The Roadmap for Social Inclusion was approved by the previous Government on 9 January 2020 and published on 14 January 2020. It is a whole-of-government strategy with a five year timeframe and a mid-term review at the mid-point, in 2022. This will facilitate an evaluation of the impact of the Roadmap commitments. The Roadmap will build on the work of its predecessors with the aim of reducing the number of people in consistent poverty in Ireland and increasing social inclusion for those who are most disadvantaged. While the commitments and targets were agreed pre-Covid, the implementation of the Roadmap and delivery of the commitments remain of central importance. The Programme for Government reaffirms the Government's commitment in this regard, noting that the Roadmap will be rigorously implemented. The Roadmap also provides for the establishment of a Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group (SIRSG) to be chaired by the Minister for Social Protection. This group has been established and is comprised of senior representatives of responsible departments at Assistant Secretary and Principal Officer Level to ensure that implementation of the Roadmap remains on the agenda of each department. The Steering Group also includes three external members from the Community and Voluntary sector. As Minister of State with responsibility for social inclusion policy and implementation of the Roadmap, I am the chair of the Steering Group which met for the first time on Wednesday, 11 November 2020. Progress is underway on the majority of the commitments, notwithstanding the additional challenges faced by all government departments this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meeting the ambitious Roadmap target of reducing the consistent poverty rate to 2% or less by 2025 is a priority (the 2019 rate was 5.5%). In order to achieve this, collaborative work between responsible departments will be required to help drive the delivery of commitments. This is of particular importance for those commitments requiring input from a number of departments, such as the development of a programme of work to address food poverty which I will be asking the Steering Group to examine. The Steering Group will meet at least twice per year, with the second meeting planned for late March 2021. Progress on the implementation of the Roadmap commitments will be reported on an annual basis with the production of an annual report on progress against each commitment and key metric. This report will be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Equality for consideration and to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands for discussion. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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