Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a very good point which has been well made. Like everyone I want to see more up-to-date statistics. They will always be a bit out of date. The year ends on 31 December and the statistics will always be a quarter or two quarters in arrears. We would like to see more up-to-date numbers in order to make decisions based on them. The amendment does not provide for that and simply provides that I should prepare a report on the State's child poverty rates to be carried out annually. The Deputy is either asking me to do something that is not my function, which is to become a statistical collection agency, which I cannot do, or else is asking me to take the out-of-date statistics from the CSO and put a Department cover on them.

The amendment does not really achieve anything. We should be trying - I will be doing it and I encourage the committee to do it - to engage with the CSO to see if we can get much more up-to-date numbers than we have, which might be useful.

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