Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1 to Seanad amendment No. 23:

In subsection (3)(a), after “inclusion” to insert “, and those articulated in the Consensual Budgeting Standards mechanism, and other mechanisms to assess relative income poverty”.

In respect of the amendments to which the Minister has referred, Sinn Féin welcomes that the Government took on board its proposals to ensure guidelines are produced that outline what exactly constitutes a reasonable standard of living. This is essential to ensure people are not driven into poverty. A consensual budgeting standards mechanism aims to develop a standard that is rooted in social consensus about goods and services that everyone can afford. The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice has used this in much of its research and the methodology itself works using focus groups of people from differing socioeconomic backgrounds to identify the actual expenditure choices and judgments that are made by people in real life as well as how they manage their money. The mechanism establishes the cost of a minimum essential standard of living across lifecycles and covers a broad range of age groups, while also providing a more comprehensive picture of the needs of groups such as single adults of working age living alone, etc.

Further to this, Sinn Féin also is calling for the insolvency service to examine geographic locations. Cost of living will vary depending on location and those who live in rural areas with no access to public transport will find it more difficult to get to work, bring children to school and so on in respect of transport costs. Sinn Féin welcomes that the Minister has defined more clearly what constitutes a reasonable standard of living. However, I ask him to consider the two amendments I have tabled. They complement what the Minister has done in this regard and I ask him to reconsider them.

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