Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity, afforded to us by the Social Democrats' motion, to discuss this important issue. We recently celebrated, with some fanfare, the 100th anniversary of the Dáil. The statement adopted by the First Dáil 100 years ago reads: "It shall be the first duty of the Government of the Republic to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children, to secure that no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter, but that all shall be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training as Citizens of a Free and Gaelic Ireland." It is staggering that, in the intervening 100 years, we have failed so badly. Today, as this motion points out, there are over 200,000 children in poverty and a total of over 600,000 people in poverty. The rate of poverty is not an accident or unfortunate oversight. Unfortunately, it is not something that will be changed by Dáil motions, reviews, commissioning reports, setting targets or even convening august bodies of experts. It is systemic and ingrained, and it is a wholly foreseen consequence of our economic system and the priorities and policies of the current and past Governments.

It is true that the rates of poverty soared during the last recession but, despite some falls in recent years, there are still more children in poverty now than ten years ago. It is also true, unfortunately, that what the ESRI warned about in July will almost certainly come to pass, that is, that the Covid pandemic and recession will likely see an increase in the poverty rates by around one quarter. The persistent, endemic and extraordinary issue of child poverty is not ultimately caused by one recession or another but by the very structure of Ireland's economic and social fabric. Our industrial, housing, welfare and even climate policies will ensure this remains the case.

Over 100,000 of those in poverty are working. They are the working poor. The children of those workers are living in poverty not because of an oversight but because we have an economy that encourages low pay and precarious employment with minimal oversight and enforcement in respect of workers' rights and statutory entitlements. We pride ourselves on a voluntarist model of employer–worker relations. This is code for a lack of workers' rights and entitlements enforced by the State. Ireland is a haven for bad employers. A direct consequence of that system, carefully built up over decades, is the working poor and their children. So long as the Government's primary concern is to sell this country to national and international investors as a low-wage, deregulated economy with little oversight or enforcement of worker' rights we will continue to see high child poverty rates.

Thousands will be in emergency accommodation tonight. Thousands of children will be in poverty. Tomorrow, they will face gruelling journeys to and from school and the impact of not having a stable, secure home. This, again, is entirely foreseeable. It is a consequence of a housing policy that eulogies the private market and private provision of housing, that regards housing as a commodity to make some people wealthy and whose purpose is to generate wealth for a few rather than shelter for the many. As long as we have a system of REITS, vulture funds and untrammeled rights for landlords, it will continue. As long as the Government is more concerned about ending an eviction ban, in case it disturbs landlords, than about providing shelter and secure homes for people, we will continue to see high poverty rates in the wider society.

We are aware that 12% of children live in fuel poverty and that some 140,000 homes are cold and damp, yet we have a climate policy that prioritises individual responsibility in addressing carbon dioxide emissions, that allows organisations to get off the hook in terms of corporate responsibility and that regards raising carbon taxes on the fuel, heating and transport of ordinary people as a way to change personal behaviour. In short, it is a policy that is designed to fail in limiting the rise in carbon dioxide emissions and that is guaranteed to keep people in fuel poverty, with no alternatives. As long as the Government regards carbon tax increases on the fuel and heating needed by ordinary people as comprising the chief measure needed, we will continue to see high child poverty rates.

The slight falls in child poverty rates noticed in recent years are being wiped away as we speak, I suspect, because of the effects of the Covid crisis on carbon dioxide emissions and the minimal increase in social welfare rates. In one sense, there is no mystery about how to end child poverty, if that is the goal; it is entirely possible to target State supports in housing, employment, health, education, climate mitigation and, especially, social protection and welfare to make a real impact. Again, however, we see from recent steps and actions of the Government that, when the chips are down, these are not among its priorities. It is entirely foreseeable that the recent cuts in the pandemic unemployment payments for over 200,000 recipients and the wage subsidy scheme payments for another 300,000 will add to the misery, the difficulty in making ends meet, and the worry, stress and uncertainty for thousands upon thousands. Ultimately, this will result in an increase in the rates of child poverty, fuel poverty and food poverty seen in the statistics.

We support this motion, but in the unfortunate certainty that it will have no impact on the lives of those children in poverty tonight and those whom this Government and its policies will keep in poverty in the coming months and years. To achieve change, we ultimately need more than a Dáil motion. We need a mass movement of workers, families and others affected by the headline rates that will force the current and future Governments to address the deep structural injustices and inequalities that have been ingrained in our economic and social system since the State was founded. We discussed motions such as this 100 years ago and we are still doing so today. The problem is systemic and endemic and needs to be addressed from the bottom up.

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