Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

I want talk about the measure of consistent poverty used by the Department and the fact that it excludes housing costs. I do not need to tell the witnesses that we are in the middle of a housing crisis. What is the justification for that exclusion because it leaves out a chunk of people, with children at the business end of it, who are at risk of poverty? That risk is being exacerbated by the massively high rents they have to pay and the lack of access to secure accommodation. Will the witnesses talk me through what the resistance is to using that because it seems it would be a rounder measure that would give a fuller picture?

I will defer to Mr. Egan's wisdom on it as to why the Department does not do it.