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

I did not ask the Minister about inequality or whether we were 0.5% percent above the OECD average. I am asking the Minister about levels of poverty in this country. I accept the latest figures are 18 months to two years out of date but they were produced by the Central Statistics Office, CSO. They indicate that 376,000 people in this country, or 8.2%, were living in consistent poverty, and although the poverty line had fallen by 16%, nearly one in seven people was at risk of poverty. The data also demonstrate that over 30% of the population was experiencing deprivation, meaning they were deprived of the basic essentials of life, such as a warm winter coat or adequate heating. I realise the CSO figures are somewhat out of date but has the Minister any measurement on progress made since the period relating to those published figures?

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