Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2020
383. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025; the reason no national anti-poverty strategy was in place for the years 2017-2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43400/20]
View answerThe 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. This is reflected in its clearly stated ambition to “Reduce consistent poverty to 2% or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU”.
The Roadmap translates this ambition into seven Goals underpinned by 66 unique Commitments (actions) that will be taken to help deliver these goals. 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. I chaired the first meeting of the Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group in November and I was pleased to see that 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.
The Roadmap is the successor to the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 and the Updated National Action Plan for Social Inclusion, which covered the period 2015-2017 and was developed to reflect the policy changes and new social and economic realities that emerged from the recession and ensuing recovery. During 2018 and 2019, my Department engaged in a public consultation process and engaged extensively with Government Departments to develop a robust, whole of government strategy with a focus on reducing poverty and increasing social inclusion for those who are most disadvantaged in our society.
Together with the work undertaken by my Department, as reflected in the targeted measures contained in Budgets 2018, 2019 and 2020 and again in the recent Budget 2021, work to address poverty and social exclusion also continued across Government to deliver actions under the range of sectoral plans that have social inclusion and poverty reduction as key objectives, in areas such as education, health, housing, equality, children, integration and community development. The Roadmap for Social Inclusion recognizes the strong role that sectoral plans play in reducing poverty and improving social inclusion and therefore does not seek to replicate them. It does however set a level of ambition as to what is to be achieved which will inform and be reflected in sectoral and service plans across government as they are renewed and updated over the coming years.
I thank the Deputy for her question and hope this clarifies the matter.
