John Brady
Ceist:2460. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the targets agreed in relation to tackling poverty. [33077/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 July 2018
Ceisteanna (2460)
Freagraí scríofa
The National Social Target for Poverty Reduction was agreed by Government in 2012 and aimed to reduce consistent poverty from 6.3% in 2010 to 4% by 2016 (interim target) and to 2% or less by 2020. This was an ambitious target, particularly during a time of economic recession, but one to which the Government has remained committed.
Data from the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) indicate that consistent poverty rose sharply from the 2010 level, to a peak of 9.1% in 2013. The most recent SILC data from 2016 indicate that this had reduced to 8.3%. A reduction of 6 percentage points will now be required to meet the 2020 poverty target of 2%.
There are two other components of the National Social Target for Poverty Reduction:
(i) The Irish contribution to the Europe 2020 poverty target: to reduce by a minimum of 200,000 the population in 'combined poverty' (i.e. consistent poverty, at-risk-of-poverty or basic deprivation) between 2010 and 2020.
(ii) The child-specific poverty target: to lift over 70,000 children (aged 0-17 years) out of consistent poverty by 2020, a reduction of at least two-thirds on the 2011 level.