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

I do not disagree with that. The Minister stated in his reply that the Government target is to reduce consistent poverty to 2% by 2020. Back in 2014 the Government set a target for reducing consistent poverty, which was then at 8%, to 4% by 2016. However, it is still at 8%, so the figure has not moved at all. In addition, a target was set in 2014 to take 70,000 children out of consistent poverty by 2020. I am now reliably informed that the number of children who will have to be taken out of consistent poverty by 2020 to enable the Government to meet that target is 97,000 because, again, the figure has not moved at all. Is the Minister confident he will realise his ambition to take 97,000 children out of consistent poverty by 2020 and that he will get the rate of consistent poverty down from 8% to 2% by 2020, in view of the fact it has not moved at all since the target was originally set in 2014?

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