Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned the increase in child benefit. That increase was only a partial reversal of the decrease the Minister had already introduced. Is the Minister aware of the UNICEF report, Children of the Recession, published last October? It demonstrates clearly and unambiguously that there are 130,000 more children living in poverty in this country now than there were five years ago and that this is a result of deliberate choices made by Government. It points to governments in other countries which equally had to combat austerity but which made different choices, and the child poverty statistics improved in those countries as a result. Does the Minister agree that all the analysis, all the studies and all the reports point specifically to one thing, namely, the Government's policy on child poverty is an abysmal failure?

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