Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very grateful for the opportunity to address some of the points made by Members of the Technical Group in their motion. They paint a very dismal picture of this country and its people, a picture which I reject strongly. Of course, there are still many areas of society that need support and investment, but we have come a long way in the last four years and will continue to do so.

I accept there are high levels of poverty in some areas. I am very aware of this and I do not deny more needs to be done to address child poverty in particular. However, this Government is making steady progress. I read a report card published by the Children's Rights Alliance. It is important to recognise the progress being made in areas such as education, including in regard to the free preschool year, school buildings and literacy. Our primary focus is to lift over 70,000 children out of consistent poverty. The Department of Social Protection has begun work in this regard through planning and implementing of the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures framework. I believe this is a very positive step.

Currently, over 70% of people living in poverty are in households where no one is at work. I have said it before and I say it again: the best way to tackle poverty is through education and employment. While I am not saying this is easy, we need to ensure there are no barriers in the way for those who can and want to work to support their families. The Action Plan for Jobs has proven very successful and has resulted in almost 80,000 new jobs being created since 2012. Attracting investment and creating jobs is not an easy task but the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and his colleagues have invested hugely in the initiatives and are putting people back to work. Similar proposals from the Department of Social Protection, in the form of programmes such as JobBridge, Jobs Plus and the back-to-education schemes, are making a real difference in every community.

The at-risk of poverty rate has fallen from 50% to 15% due to the impact of the social welfare supports. In 2014 Government supports for children and families amounted to €2.3 billion from the Department of Social Protection alone. This money does not appear out of thin air; it is our income tax system that pays for it.

Let us not forget that approximately 40% of income earners are not liable for income tax at all.

The budget in 2015 introduced a €5 per month increase in child benefit, which will benefit more than 600,000 families this year. A working family dividend scheme has been introduced for lone parents and long-term job seekers with children who want to return to work. This will help to support those affected by the changes to the one-parent family payment. The Government currently invests over €250 million in child care each year. An interdepartmental group has been set up by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to re-examine future investment in child care, which is a very positive step. We in the Chamber need to strongly support that.

The Government has a plan and it is working. We will keep moving forward and making positive changes, bringing people back into their jobs and out of poverty and giving them an opportunity for their families and futures. We will give hope to their children and grandchildren. It is impossible to stand here and say that things have not changed in the past four years, because they have. I hope the Technical Group will give some credit to some of the positive things that have happened in communities across the country, which have allowed young people back into education, particularly lone parents and one-parent families. This is making a significant difference to their lives, self-esteem and, above all, their children.

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