John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the witnesses and thank them for their excellent presentations, which are really appreciated and helpful on an annual basis as we head into the budgetary process. I have engaged with the witnesses continually and it is striking that all the issues contained in the pre-budget submissions are the same issues year on year.

The facts and statistic from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, all show the same trends of figures increasing for the most vulnerable people in society, those living in poverty or at risk of poverty. The latest ESRI report highlights two specific groups where the figures are frightening, namely, one-parent families and people with disabilities. One-parent families are at a 26% higher risk of living in poverty. The figure for people with disabilities is 11%, which is well above our EU counterparts. It is even more striking that we do not have an anti-poverty strategy. Perhaps the witnesses will give their views on this. We seem to be a rudderless boat in this regard.

All the evidence and statistics show that poverty levels are increasing. The total money paid out by charities such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is going up annually. The evidence shows a rise in fuel poverty because much of the money goes to help families to heat their homes, be it trying to pay electricity bills that increase annually. Some €12.5 million was paid out in food vouchers. This is staggering in this day and age. All the evidence is there. I commend the work being done by Barnardos and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul but unless an anti-poverty strategy is introduced, the Government cannot target measures in the budget or be serious about tackling any of the real issues facing real people.

I and many groups such as St. Vincent de Paul have been consistent in our concern around the discrimination towards young, unemployed people who are under the age of 26. Discriminatory cuts were imposed on these people. We see the evidence at this committee that these cuts are a driving factor in increased rates of poverty, deprivation, homelessness and emigration among this group. Between 2007 and 2015, for example, the rate of severe deprivation among 18 to 24 year olds increased twice as much as in the general population. I challenged the Taoiseach on this when he was the Minister for Social Protection and I have challenged the current Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty. One statement that really struck me, and which really hit home that these Ministers really do not get it, was when the former Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar appeared before this committee. I challenged him on the discriminatory cuts to our young unemployed and he asked how can young people travel to Ireland from other countries, "get off the plane" and get a job straight away. He said that raised serious questions about what the young, unemployed people in Ireland are doing. I believe that this statement shows clearly the ignorance and lack of respect for our young, unemployed people. Nobody wants to sit around at home doing nothing. This aspect needs to be addressed.

With regard to one-parent families, all the evidence and statistics are there and the witnesses have put together some good proposals on how to deal with that. I seek their views in this regard. Earlier this year I produced a report on creating a child maintenance service. This report formed part of the basis for this committee's report calling for a child maintenance service. I see child maintenance as one key way of helping to lift children of one-parent families out of poverty. I proposed that a child maintenance service be set up on a statutory basis to address the crazy situation where lone parents must go to the District Court to try to chase up maintenance payments. Regardless of whether they get the payment, it is taken into consideration as means and income, which has a compounding negative impact. Perhaps the witnesses could give us their views on this point.

The statistics show that fuel poverty is a growing crisis. We have heard the anecdotal evidence of people sitting in public buildings and on trains to try to keep warm. There are some good proposals by the groups for increasing the fuel allowance. I see this as one of the key ways to address fuel poverty. There are other areas and Departments that can help with retrofitting houses and so on but the fuel payment is one key way to help to lift people out from fuel poverty. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul have proposed a cold weather payment. During this year's cold weather there was real ambiguity as to whether an extra payment would be given and there was massive confusion. The United Kingdom has a system whereby payment is automatic if there is consistent cold weather. This should be put in place. What are the witnesses' views on the model in place in the United Kingdom? Has it been looked at and could it be rolled out in Ireland?

I shall now turn to the issue of back-to-school costs. I welcome the survey launched last week by Barnardos. Could we get some feedback on how many people partook in that survey so far and how long will it go on for? Last year we had big announcements from the Government and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, about an initiative to try to reduce the costs of sending children back to school. The facts show that this was a lot of hot air and bluster. The Minister had said there would be incentives for schools, that plans and proposals would be brought forward to help reduce back-to-school costs and that the Department would pay additional money to schools. No school has been given any additional money for adopting cost-saving measures. No monitoring of the schools in this regard is happening. The initiative was little more than hot air.

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance is one way of putting money back into the pockets of families struggling to put shoes on children's feet, clothes on their backs and books in their schoolbags. I would like to hear the witnesses' views on the Government proposals last year and whether the initiative has had any benefit or impact. The evidence I have from listening to people out in the real world is it has had no impact whatsoever and it shows the Government's focus is not really on trying to address the serious costs of sending children back to school. I am concerned about things like using workbooks instead of proper schoolbooks, which means they cannot be handed down to younger children. I might get an opportunity to come back in.