Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy stated 20% of children are at risk of poverty. The measurement in that instance contributes nothing to the debate and I do not accept that 20% of children are at risk of or are in poverty and nobody else does either. When the specific measures and targets in place are examined, there are very different outcomes. Under the measurement used previously when we dealt with child poverty, we would have achieved the target we set out but the target was changed and we used a different measurement. Even under this, the percentage of children at risk is well down in single figures. The Government and myself will continue to drive down the figures and to end the situation of children of any hue, age or social background being in consistent poverty over the next number of years.

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