John Brady
Ceist:2461. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on poverty rates; and the actions being taken to tackle poverty as a result. [33078/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 July 2018
Ceisteanna (2461)
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. those in consistent poverty or at-risk-of-poverty or experiencing basic deprivation) between 2010 and 2020.
The number of people in combined poverty increased significantly from 2010 to 2013, reaching a high of 1.74 million compared to the 1.4 million 2010 baseline figure. Therefore, while the 2016 SILC data indicates there has been a decrease of 22,000 people on the 2010 baseline, since 2013 the number of people in combined poverty has decreased by 351,000. Nonetheless, over 178,000 people will have to be lifted out of combined poverty by 2020 to meet the Europe 2020 target.
(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.
The number of children in consistent poverty rose significantly from the 2011 baseline figure of 107,000 to a high of 152,000 in 2014. The 2016 SILC data indicates that there were 132,000 children in consistent poverty in 2016, a decrease of 20,000 children on 2014. This means that a revised figure of 95,000 children have to be lifted out of consistent poverty to meet the target by 2020.
The impact of the recovery is not yet fully reflected in these most recent data, which reflect income conditions in 2015-2016. Macro-economic and labour market indicators have shown continued economic and employment growth since then, with the unemployment rate at 5.1% in June. The number of people in receipt of working-age income and employment supports has also continued to fall. Given the continuing economic recovery and measures introduced in Budgets 2017 and 2018, I expect the figures for 2017 and 2018, when they become available, to show further improvement over the 2016 outcomes. I will continue to work with my Government colleagues to ensure that the economic recovery is experienced in all regions and by all families, households and individuals.
The Government’s most recent strategy for addressing poverty and social exclusion was set out in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 and its 2015-2017 update which concluded last year. The Plan identifies a wide range of targeted actions and interventions to achieve the overall objective of reducing consistent poverty. My Department has started preparations for the new strategy for the period 2018-2021. It will have a ‘whole of Government’ approach that aims to improve outcomes for the vulnerable and marginalised in our society, while recognising a shared responsibility across Government to implement actions to achieve the overall objectives.
The primary focus will be on the reduction of the percentage of the population that is in consistent poverty. This will be achieved through a three pronged approach: supporting incomes through as high as possible a level of employment, and encouraging and assisting people to enter the workforce; setting targets for the level of relevant welfare payments designed to reduce relative poverty among those who cannot (or cannot find) work; and finally improving access to quality services such as health, education, childcare, training, housing, community supports in order to minimize deprivation for all groups and, in particular those who are on relatively low incomes.