Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In every academic study, poverty is indicated as the main driver of violence and crime. Ending poverty does not begin at eight or nine; it is a societal thing. Keeping that in mind, I understand the interventions to which the Minister refers, but the whole picture shows that the narrower the gap between rich and poor in a country, the fewer instances of violence and crime there. What, therefore, is the Department's role in reducing or ending poverty? That is a justice response.