Mr. Fergus Finlay:

In the short time available, I will make a number of brief points. In common with all our colleagues, I am grateful for the opportunity to present before the committee.

It frequently seems to us in Barnardos that somebody somewhere in charge of public policy regards children as being the cause of the mess we are in. Since austerity began, successive Governments but principally the current Government have cut €450 million from child income supports. Since austerity began, the support given to families to get their children back to school has virtually been halved. Since austerity began, the numbers of children in consistent poverty have gone up year after year to the point where there are one in nine children living in consistent poverty in Ireland. Since austerity began, every single Barnados project, of which there are 40, has had a waiting list it used not have for children and families who desperately need help and support. Since austerity began, we can report on the basis of hard facts, hard evidence and hard experience that there have been significant increases in the stresses and stains associated with poverty, including increased mental health difficulties, depression, alcoholism and drug use. Since austerity began, anti-social behaviour among young people has been steadily increasing because of the lack of supports available there. As I stated at the beginning, it almost seems to us as if someone somewhere has decided that children caused the crash. They did not. They have paid a disproportionate share of what needs to be done.

Our simply message to the committee and to the Government is: "Enough already." There cannot be further cuts in income supports in the next budget. There must be some effort to reflect the fact that there are hungry children in Ireland. We are feeding children every day of the week, not because it is a good way for children to socialise, make friends, etc., which was why we used to do it, but because they are hungry. All our projects will report children being hungrier on a Monday than they are on any other day of the week because there is nothing in households at the weekend. I strongly believe that the time has come for public representatives to say, "Enough is enough", when it comes to austerity and children.