Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their impressive, concise and substantial contributions, which are useful to us in our consideration of this important topic.

A couple of witnesses, in particular Ms Kiernan and Ms Foster-Breslin, have mentioned how we can implement strategies to effect tangible change and tackle child poverty. Ms Foster-Breslin, I think, mentioned the New Zealand model where the national child poverty action plan was taken on by the Prime Minister where it was centrally assigned. In previous hearings, on the same topic, we have heard about the model that was used by the new Labour Government in Britain where there was a centralised child poverty unit run from Whitehall by the Department of the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Some witnesses, including Ms Kiernan, talked about the need for strong leadership at the centre of government in order to implement a national child poverty action plan and I ask the witnesses to elaborate. Is that the best way? Does an action plan require a centralised joined-up approach that is led from the top in order for us to deliver at a local level?

Similarly, we have heard in previous sessions about the importance of investing and how a public universal child care system is key to targeting and eliminating child poverty. I ask the witnesses to offer a view on how best to roll out an early years education and care programme that targets child poverty.