Ms Louise Bayliss:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to discuss poverty and deprivation in Ireland. I am joined by my colleague Robert Thornton, who is the manager of the minimum essential standard of living, MESL, research team. This is an extremely important discussion in light of the increase in deprivation evidenced by the CSO report on its survey on income and living conditions, SILC, from March, which showed that consistent poverty increased by over a third last year such that 5% of our population are now living in consistent poverty, including almost 105,000 children.

The SILC data showed that over 15% of the general population experienced deprivation. However, some groups were more at risk. Lone parents and their children had the highest deprivation rates at 46.3%, but people with a disability, children and single-adult households also experienced much higher levels of deprivation than the general population. The MESL data for 2025 starkly illustrates the inadequacy of current social protection rates. For example, a lone-parent household with a primary or secondary school-aged child requires €555 per week to meet their needs. However, social welfare payments meet only 82% of this threshold. For households with older children, the gap is even more severe. The cost to meet the needs of a child over the age of 12 is €158 per week, yet social welfare covers just 64% of that. Single adults living alone also face a shortfall of €43 per week in urban areas and €109 per week in rural areas.

The housing crisis continues to be a major driver of poverty and deprivation. The SILC 2024 data shows that when housing costs are factored in, the at-risk-of-poverty, AROP, rate jumps from 11.7% to 17.9% in the general population. For renters in receipt of the housing assistance payment, HAP, rental accommodation scheme, RAS, payment or rent supplement, the situation is even more stark. Their at-risk-of-poverty rate rises from 21.5% before housing costs to 57.3% after housing costs. This underscores the structural impact of HAP rates not meeting the market rates, and the burden HAP top-ups place on low-income households that qualify for social housing but are expected to pay rent and a top-up.

At the sharp end of the housing crisis, in the first eight months of this year, we saw a net increase of 1,849 people in emergency accommodation. That is made up of 1,166 people in families, including 635 children and 683 adult-only households. Family homelessness is driving the homelessness crisis and this is due to economic issues around poverty, affordability and supply. In the same period, those eight months from January, there was a net increase of 299 families into homelessness, of whom 213 were lone-parent households.

Despite these challenges, budget 2026 fails to deliver a strategic response to poverty. While there were welcome changes, such as historic increases in child support payments, these are undermined by the withdrawal of temporary cost-of-living supports, an inadequate €10 per week increase in the core social welfare rates and an inadequate €5 increase in the fuel allowance, which do not keep pace with inflationary pressures, and the real purchasing power of low-income households will be reduced in 2026. It is extremely disappointing that the withdrawal of one-off payments to recipients of a disability payment was not mitigated by the introduction of a cost-of-disability payment, despite their experiencing the highest consistent poverty rate at almost 19%.

The Parliamentary Budget Office’s analysis shows that the poorest 10% of households will see a 1.8% decrease in income in 2026 when inflation and the removal of one-off supports are accounted for. Moreover, income poverty is forecast to rise across vulnerable groups. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has said the budget will also have little effect on child poverty, in large part because of the removal of Government measures that had been in place to help in paying the bills. According to its post-budget analysis, at the household level, measures announced as part of budget 2026 will on average result in a 2% loss of disposable income.

In summary, the gap between household needs and income supports is widening. The MESL data confirms that many households, especially those with older children, lone parents or single adults, cannot achieve a dignified standard of living on current welfare rates. The housing crisis exacerbates this, pushing more people into poverty after housing costs are considered. Budget 2026, while offering some targeted supports, does not go far enough to address the structural inadequacies in income and housing policy. Without a commitment to benchmarking social welfare to the cost of living and addressing housing affordability, many households will face even greater hardship in the year ahead.

We look forward to the committee members' questions.