Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to and thank Deputy Whitmore and her party for bringing forward this motion. It is an excellent motion, but it is a shame that we have to be discussing such a subject. However, that is the reality. As I stand here today, approximately 700,000 of our fellow citizens live on a poverty income, of which approximately 225,000, or 30%, are children. If this was not startling enough, in June this year, a Society of St. Vincent de Paul study, entitled, The Hidden Cost of Poverty, reported that poverty costs the State in the region of €4.5 billion. When we speak about child poverty what we are talking about is children going to bed hungry, children going to school without lunches, without warm coats as we approach autumn-winter and without the correct footwear. It is important to remember that is the reality for children. That in 2020 there are children in this country going to bed hungry or going to school hungry is heartbreaking to say the least. What these children need is not sympathy, they need action.

When I was preparing for my contribution today I realised that this is not a new phenomenon. We have been talking about child poverty since as far back as the first Dáil in 1919 when the State pledged then, as its first duty, "...to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children, to secure that no child suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing or shelter..." Yet, here we are more than 100 years later and children are still suffering from the same plight. It is important to say that this has a knock-on effect on every part of a child's life. A child cannot go into school and function properly if he or she is hungry, tired or freezing. That is the reality for so many children. There are additional issues in regard to direct provision with children in direct provision not having the same opportunities and likewise children in homeless services, by which I mean not just children living in hotels and bed and breakfasts but children living in overcrowded situations with families and friends. These are people who are trying to keep themselves out of the emergency accommodation system and are the hidden homeless. There are children growing up squashed into one room with their entire family. There are no opportunities for these children such as the normal things many children take for granted such as having school friends to their home, birthday parties and so on.

Child poverty has always been with us and unless we do something radical it will always be with us. Covid has highlighted the crisis. While all children missed the benefits of school, their child care or the early years placement, for many children these were the places they went to that were safe, warm and provided them with a meal. I know so many organisations and services did so much good work during Covid trying to get meals, etc., out to children. An enormous number of children are potentially going to fall through the cracks as a result of Covid. It is important that we remain focused on that and ensure measures are put in place in that regard. The Minister mentioned the schools meal programme in his speech. It is an excellent programme, as are breakfast clubs. Another initiative I regularly talk about that sometimes does not get enough attention is the school completion programme. While it operates primarily in DEIS schools, it is also in other schools and it could be rolled-out to all schools, but its funding would need to be increased because none of the funding cuts applied to it in the recession has been restored. The programme enables excellent work in a range of areas and it flies under the radar, which is exactly what a child in that situation needs.

They do not need it to be highlighted that they are somehow different or have a red circle put around them. That is what is excellent about the school completion programme. It is ironic that responsibility for that is moving from the Minister's Department but I ask about any influence he might have in the time remaining to increase its funding or its mandate to allow it roll out more schools because the work it does is invaluable. I will pass over to my colleagues but I want to commend Deputy Whitmore again and say that we fully support the motion.

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