Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 January 2021
513. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 6 of 3 December 2020, if an update is available from the interdepartmental group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4105/21]
View answerThe Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group (SIRSG), which I chair, met for the first time on Wednesday, 11 November 2020. This group is comprised of senior representatives of responsible Departments and three external members from the Community and Voluntary Sector and was established to monitor progress and oversee the implementation of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion.
During this meeting each Department provided the interdepartmental group with an update on the progress of its commitments within the Roadmap. While the commitments and targets were agreed pre-Covid, the implementation of the Roadmap and delivery of the commitments remains important for supporting the most vulnerable within our society.
I asked each Department to consider how COVID-19 has affected people who are experiencing deprivation and/or poverty, and other vulnerable groups. This can then inform policy responses across government to deliver better outcomes in these areas. The group next meets at the end of March and I will be asking Department representatives for updates on this issue.
Progress on the implementation of the Roadmap commitments will be reported on an annual basis with the production of an annual report and report card on progress against each commitment and key metric. It is expected that the 2020 report will be published within the coming months.
The Parliamentary Question on 3 December referred to the instances of Covid-19 compared with the Pobal areas of deprivation throughout the country. As noted at the time, analysis of the instances of Covid-19 throughout the country does not fall within the remit of my Department as it is more proper to the Department of Health. I understand that there are challenges in aligning data on the incidence of COVID-19 with data on deprivation. However, officials in the Department of Social Protection are in discussions with their counterparts in the Department of Health, Pobal and other relevant departments as to how this can be addressed.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
