Mr. Mickey Brady:

I should declare an interest immediately because Saoirse Brady is my daughter.

I thank the delegates for the presentation. As individuals and a party, we are interested in all 32 counties, not just the Twenty-six Counties and the Six Counties. Child poverty is a big issue in the North and the South. In my constituency of Newry and Armagh a report was produced seven years ago by a child poverty action group which showed that 39% of children in the constituency were living below what was considered to be the poverty level. It is, therefore, a huge issue.

The target of 97,000 was mentioned. It is interesting that when Mr. Tony Blair became British Prime Minister, both he and Mr. Gordon Brown set the target that child poverty would be eradicated in Britain by 2010. That did not happen. It was then decided that it should be eradicated by 2020. That is, however, highly unlikely to happen, given who is now in charge. In fact, it will probably never happen if they continue in power.

There is another point at a purely practical level for somebody like me, whose background is in giving advice on welfare rights. I constantly deal with cases involving tax credits and have raised this matter previously. There are many cross-Border workers who live in towns like Newry and work in places such as Dundalk, Dublin and Drogheda. The point in having tax credits, including child tax credits, is to supplement low incomes. In the North - certainly in my constituency - we live in a low wage economy. Most of the profits made in shopping centres and so forth go back to Britain; very little stays in the local economy, aside from what is paid to those on the minimum wage which is now the living wage. The living wage has affected children. When the British Government announced the introduction of the living wage of £7.80, housing benefit for those on low incomes was reduced because their income had gone up slightly; therefore, this nonsense about improving people's standard of living must be addressed also. One of my issues with tax credits, including child tax credits, is that such cases have become extremely complex because there are two jurisdictions involved. I have been contacted by people with from two to five children who have not received benefits for six to 12 weeks and sometimes longer. This has a direct impact on their children. If Brexit takes place, of whatever type, these cases will surely become even more complex.

The other issue is that the European Convention on Human Rights is a central plank of the Good Friday Agreement. Our purpose here is to oversee implementation of the Agreement. If we see issues, they must be addressed. Obviously, there are ongoing cases in the Six Counties, including that of the hooded men which is being referred back to the European Court. There has been some misinformation or a misunderstanding of the roles of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. One of them may still apply, even if the British pull out, while the other will not. It is important that people know that there will still be somewhere they will be able to go.

It is very important that we address child poverty issues. Regardless of what administration is in place in the North and the South, benefit issues are administrative issues that can be addressed very quickly. I have been dealing with such issues for a long time. The tax credits system is a total shambles. The first thing the British did was close an office in Belfast. As a result, people in the North must deal with offices in Preston, Glasgow, Liverpool, Blackpool or Cornwall. One is going around the houses all the time. That is something about which the delegates could inquire because it is purely an administrative issue which could be dealt with. It is adding to the level of child poverty and diminishing children's quality of life.