Willie O'Dea
Ceist:3. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to reduce child poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29010/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 6 October 2016
Ceisteanna (3)
Freagraí ó Béal (10 píosaí cainte)
I will not take 30 seconds. The question is self-explanatory.
Tackling poverty continues to be a priority for Government. The updated national action plan for social inclusion identifies a wide range of targeted actions and interventions to achieve the overall objective of reducing poverty. The national social target is to reduce consistent poverty to 4% by 2016 and to 2% or less by 2020.
The CSO survey on income and living conditions, SILC, for 2014 shows that 11.2 % of children were in consistent poverty, a slight decrease on the 2013 rate of 11.7%. The full impact of the recovery is not yet reflected in these figures. Ireland has returned to strong economic and employment growth. The monthly unemployment rate in September 2016 announced by the CSO this week was 7.9%, down from a peak of 15% in 2012. As unemployment is strongly linked to poverty, we can expect further decreases in poverty as the figures for 2015 and 2016 become available.
Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the national policy framework for children and young people, published by the former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, in 2014, includes a specific target to reduce child poverty by two thirds by 2020. Meeting this target means lifting 97,000 children out of poverty. Under this framework, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in collaboration with my Department and other relevant Departments is taking a whole-of-Government approach to tackling child poverty.
Social transfers play a crucial role in alleviating poverty and inequality. In 2014, social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate in Ireland from 37.2% to 15.6%, thereby lifting over a fifth of the population out of income poverty. Ireland is among the best performing EU member states in reducing poverty through social transfers. Continued economic recovery, together with Government action to sustain and develop the social welfare system, will support further reductions in poverty over the coming years. Reducing child poverty is not just about income supports and welfare. It is also about getting into work and reducing the cost of living for families, which includes child care, education and health.
The Minister is right, the latest figures come from 2014 and show 11.2% of children in consistent poverty. The Minister says that things will have changed by now because we have not taken into account developments since 2014. What disturbs me somewhat is that the figure moved from 11.7% down to 11.2% over the period referred to during which there was substantial improvement in the economy. Can the Minister give us any indication when he will have updated figures on this so we can pursue these matters properly? It was the Government's policy to take 70,000 children out of consistent poverty by 2020. The figure has been revised to 94,000. Could the Minister explain why? I presume it is because the poverty line has changed with increases in income. Is the Minister optimistic that he will achieve that target by 2020?
The next set of figures will be released in the CSO survey on income and living conditions which is expected in November. We will have the 2015 figures next month. We have revised the figure up to 97,000 children. The Deputy is quite right that it is not because children have become poorer; it is because median incomes have gone up and therefore the poverty line has moved. It will be a very hard target to meet but I am determined to meet it through improvements in services like child care, education and health and getting more people with children into work and also through changes to welfare payments. There has been an enormous focus on what is in the budget for pensioners but I am determined that there will be something in it for people on welfare who have children. They are very often the children in poverty. That includes lone parents, carers and people on disability allowance and jobseeker's payments.
One of the systems the Government has announced a few times in this area is the new working family payment. It will be one of the tools the Government will use to combat child poverty. Can we expect that to be announced in the budget?
It will not be announced in the budget. We are working on it for budget 2018. The plan is to develop it, publish what it will look like in quarter one or quarter two of next year and cost it. It will cost if it is to be done in such a way that there are no losers as opposed to winners and losers. I intend to consult with the committee and the other parties on what the working family payment will look like. Essentially, it will be designed to do two things - reduce child poverty and ensure no family is better off on welfare than in work.
We can now say we now know one thing that will not be in the budget. Does the Minister have any more information for us?
Fianna Fáil knows that already. It should not come as a surprise to it.
Only some of them.
Only some of them.