Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 February 2024
98. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection what measures will be taken to respond adequately to the report carried out by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and presented to the United Nations, which found that the State was failing to address the root causes of poverty through its ''short-term, emergency and temporary measures". [7890/24]
View answerLast week I led the Irish delegation at the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN CESCR) review which this report related to. At this review I was able to highlight some areas where we have made significant progress since 2014. This included how the Government is working to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU.
The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020–2025 is the national strategy for poverty reduction and social inclusion. The headline target is to reduce the percentage of the population in consistent poverty to 2% or less by 2025. The Roadmap also includes other indicators to support on delivery of this ambition. The continued implementation of Roadmap commitments is key to ensuring a reduction in poverty for all segments in society.
In terms of temporary measures, in recognition of the significant cost of living pressures experienced by many households, Budget 2024 provided a combination of a wide range of lump sum payments and a €12 across the board increase in weekly rates. This approach eases the pressure that many households face over the winter months, and provides for the weekly rate increase which came into effect in January. In this regard, Budget 2024 was the largest Social Protection package in the history of the State. A similar approach was taken in Budget 2023. It should be noted that over the last three Budgets there has been a cumulative €29 increase to core weekly social welfare payments (€5 in 2022, €12 in 2023 and €12 in 2024).
Each year, the ESRI produces an independent post-Budget analysis of the main tax and welfare changes in the Budget. Analysis shows that measures announced under Budget 2024, will insulate most households from rising prices over 2024. The package of tax cuts, welfare increases, once-off payments and indirect taxes introduced under the Budget is progressive with higher gains for low-income compared to high income households. Even without one-off policies, households will be slightly better off in 2024 compared to 2023 policies.
The combination of permanent and temporary measures ensures that there are improvements / increases in disposable income for all household types, with lone parents and pensioners living alone recording the greatest proportional increases. The package of temporary measures ensures that people with disabilities see greater improvements / increases, compared to the overall population, in disposable income. Accordingly, the evidence suggests that the approach taken by Government is effective at addressing cost of living pressures, which are a significant driver of poverty.
