Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister to outline his plans to address child poverty this year. He will be aware that Ireland ranks 37th out of 41 OECD countries, ahead of Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland, in a league table measuring relative changes in child poverty. Approximately 130,000 children in the State are living in dire poverty, which means their families do not have enough food on the table and they do not have breakfast before leaving for school each morning. Many of them rely on school completion programmes to feed them before the school day begins. I do not want to hear the Minister engage in a blame game or allude to committees that are examining this issue. What is he doing to address child poverty?

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