Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. We are all conscious of the scale of poverty in this country and how the poverty rate has increased in recent years. The current rate of consistent poverty is 8%. The greatest scandal in that context is that almost 140,000 children live in consistent poverty without enough food, heating or clothing. In addition, other cohorts such as lone pensioners, single long-term unemployed people and those dealing with mental health problems and addiction are adversely affected. Does the Minister accept the targets that were set were not ambitious enough? Does he further accept the State is a long way from meeting those unambitious targets? Is he prepared to commit to the production of a national anti-poverty strategy that sets targets not just for his Department but for all Departments, with timelines for the actions that will be taken to meet these targets?

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