Ms Joan O'Donnell:

They are both very good questions and we welcome them. In terms of best practice, since 1998 Ireland has had poverty-impact assessments which were set up by the office for social inclusion in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. While they were looking at poverty, the assessment is designed to be taken on board by all Departments. It sits under the national action plan for social inclusion. We hope we have a strengthened commitment under the new national action plan, which we expect to be announced on Wednesday, 22 May, and that stronger measures will be put in place. We would welcome a strengthening of that muscle via the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to ensure that all Departments are actually poverty proofing and disability-proofing or equality-proofing budgets in advance of making budgetary decisions so that those metrics can come into play when making budgetary decisions. At the moment the poverty-impact assessment is done only within the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and maybe in one or two other Departments - I cannot be certain. However, it is done after the budget rather than informing budgetary decisions.