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

I would like the Minister to develop the point further. Would he agree that countries should place the well-being of children at the top of their priorities during an economic recession? My second point is that children who live in poverty are more likely to become poor adults and continue this cycle. It is sad to see that it takes a report from an outside agency like UNICEF to highlight the poverty of our own children. We need to stop this short-termism and look at interventions to prevent long-term problems of child poverty. This is not being addressed and we need to be more inclusive and creative. I said earlier we have 130,000 children in severe poverty and we need to do something about it.

Poland, which I mentioned earlier, has reduced child poverty by 30%. Perhaps the Minister should look at how it did it and perhaps he should visit Poland for advice, because there has been an increase in child poverty in this country while Poland and other countries have reduced it by 30%. I suggest the Minister should look at examples of good practice across Europe and get on with the job.

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