Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I missed the start of the meeting as there was a vote in the Seanad so I offer my apologies. I thank the witnesses for their contributions. I cannot say I enjoyed the contributions because they were sobering and hard to hear. The first line of the submission from Rialto Youth Project suggests that Ireland has higher levels of child poverty than the EU average, which is stark. What is the main cause of that? Is this a warped culture of not looking after this issue, of keeping it all within the family and making sure that the family looks after it, without putting in the important structures around the family that the State should? We have heard of the mother and baby homes and the attitudes and culture towards single parents. Is it a cultural thing and, if so, how can we best fix that? That is a question to the Rialto Youth Project.

I am not sure who mentioned the national action plan on child poverty, which also came up at a previous meeting, in particular that there is an action plan and a localised individual plan for each area. We have action plans in urban areas but I believe rural poverty can sometimes be overlooked. I would like to hear an opinion, from whoever mentioned that point, with regard to individualisation, localisation, the national action plan to bring that down to a local level and the best way to do that.