Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I am aware of the report. The methodology of that report has been questioned. Given that the report takes the baseline of 60% of the median earnings, it is inevitable that we would see statistics of that kind. I acknowledge that there are too many people in Ireland living in poverty, if the Deputy wants to use that phrase, but there are much fewer people living in poverty now than there were in the recent past. Social welfare spending over the past seven years has gone up from €7 billion to €12 billion. We have particularly targeted areas like child benefit. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs remains committed in targeting welfare spending to those in greatest need. Thanks to our economic success, more and more people are participating in employment. With better education and more job opportunities, we can continue to reduce the incidence of those that live in poverty in our society.

See this speech in context