Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I agree with the Taoiseach that the last 12 years of prosperity have had some trickle down effect in the geographic areas I referred to. I am disappointed, however, to see the Taoiseach follow his Minister for Social and Family Affairs in attacking the statistics as distinct from attacking poverty. The fact remains that 60,000 live in consistent poverty. I never raised any question about us all being equally wealthy, as the Taoiseach put it. How can he use such a term when we are talking about 60,000 children living in poverty, about thousands of children going to school who would not have a meal in the morning if it were not for breakfast clubs, about areas I do not need to name where we can physically see the different strands of deprivation concentrated together?

I did not ask any of the questions the Taoiseach sought to answer. I asked if he accepts there is a necessity to declare war on poverty in the relatively small number of geographic areas where multiple disadvantage is concentrated and if the upcoming national development plan offers the obvious opportunity to do that.

Perhaps the failed RAPID experiment could be resurrected. The Government ran up a 23% increase in public spending in advance of the last general election and as soon as the election was won, the savage 16 cuts in social welfare were introduced. The cruellest cut of all was pulling the rug from under the RAPID programme, with the €1.9 billion promised to underpin the plans prepared in these areas gone as soon as the plans were submitted. That was the cruellest cut by the Government and the former Minister for Finance.

I am asking the Taoiseach if, in the new national development plan, the political will exists on the Government side to address this issue. Some of the Taoiseach's Ministers believe inequality is necessary to drive our society. We do not believe that on these benches. Tackling inequality ought to be a political priority now in a country of our prosperity. Yet there are people living in areas where unemployment is five times the national average.

See this speech in context