Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests from the SVP and Family Carers Ireland and thank them for their contributions. I have two questions. How is the poverty line defined and measured? Is it measured on the basis of a combination of housing, income or what? Who defines the poverty line? Is it defined in the same way right across the State or is it the SVP and similar organisation which define it? It has been stated that there are 600,000 households who are below the poverty line.

My second question relates to direct provision. I had presumed that all of those in direct provision are on the same level. It has been mentioned that people in direct provision contact our guests' organisations. Is that because they are treated differently in some places? Why would some people in direct provision contact the SVP while others would not?