Ms Tanya Ward:

I welcome the opportunity to present before the committee on behalf of the Children’s Rights Alliance on the very important cross-cutting issue of child poverty. I commend the committee on its focus on child poverty.

The Children's Rights Alliance unites more than 135 members. Our goal is to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to be a child. In my opening remarks, I want to touch on several areas. These are the need for national co-ordination and implementation, as well as some specific recommendations in areas where the committee's attention could make a real difference. This is not to say there are not other areas affected by child poverty. I want to point towards some important headline issues in my opening statement.

With regard to national co-ordination and implementation, I am reminded of the importance of Tony Blair. Committee members might remember that in 1999 he famously committed to ending child poverty in the UK by 2020. He enacted a Child Poverty Act, invested in school meals and set up an early years programme called Sure Start. One of the reasons his Government had success and lifted more than 1 million children out of our measure of consistent poverty was that it established a child poverty unit in Whitehall. This was very important for driving change. In the Irish context, we do not have a comparable cross-government child poverty unit. Excellent work is being done on child poverty across the board in the Departments of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Social Protection and Education but there is no single child poverty unit. Such units are being established in other countries with national action plans on child poverty. New Zealand and Scotland are good examples. The Children's Rights Alliance believes it is important to establish such a unit, to be co-located between the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It could be an important driving force behind actions to address child poverty.

We need a national action plan to address child poverty. We know the Government plans to look at this area, particularly in the context of a new national policy framework for children and young people. The Government should also think about local child poverty action plans. These could be introduced on a phased basis. This could involve local needs analysis, facilitating children and young people in this work and funding the implementation of these plans. We think that could really work in the Irish context.

As for areas that deserve special attention, I am here today with representatives from Early Childhood Ireland and SPARK. The data tell us that one of the most important areas to invest in to address child poverty is that of childcare. The Government needs to think about providing free, or nearly free, access to childcare for families on the lowest incomes. One way to make this happen is that they receive higher levels of subsidisation under the national childcare scheme. The Government should establish a cross-government working group to ensure childcare is available to low-income families wishing to attend education and training.

I know committee members are particularly interested in food poverty. This is particularly acute in Ireland because of the high cost of food due to the fact we are on the edge of Europe. The Government has an excellent hot school meals programme. This programme needs to be rolled out throughout the country in order that all children and young people get to benefit. It should go much further and include non-formal education settings and early year settings.

I want to bring the attention of the committee to areas that are often forgotten, namely, those of play, recreation, sports, arts and cultural activities. European policy in this regard is that these areas need to be considered when trying to address child poverty. There is a real need to focus on these areas. Local development plans should be proofed against child poverty. Investment should be made in walkable communities and in play and recreation facilities.

Investment in the arts, cultural events and sports is also critical to the development of children and young people. We know that it changes their horizons. It makes them feel like another world is possible and is particularly important for children living in persistent poverty.

That is my opening statement. I would be happy to answer questions about any other areas in which the committee or the Chair might be interested.