Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 10 relates to the strategy and the requirements for consultation on that strategy to make sure that it is poverty and disability proofed. Previously, it became stark when there was the policy for two-for-one meals, on which there was an announcement last year or 18 months ago. There was a steering committee of perhaps 40 different organisations. There was not a single organisation there representing people who are at risk of poverty. There was a representative for disability groups, but it was not a grassroots organisation. I raised this with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications at the time. I believed it was a huge gap. As a result, those groups had not actually been consulted. When one is talking about two-for-one meals, people who are at risk of poverty rely on those to a great degree and their concerns should be taken into account with any such policies. The amendment seeks to ensure that the right groups are being consulted when the strategy is being developed and also in the context of bringing in the principles of just transition and climate justice.