Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have to acknowledge there are a number of different measures in the survey. Two of them have increased but everything else has reduced, whether it is consistent poverty, at risk of poverty, deprivation rates or social transfers. As I mentioned, Covid-19 income supports reduced the risk of poverty from 19.9% to 11.6%. Consistent poverty for children reduced from 7.2% to 5.2%, while consistent poverty for lone parents reduced from 19.3% to 13.1%.

However, the Deputy is correct. There is poverty among older people, which is up. As the Deputy said, the rate of consistent poverty has increased for older people. While it is significantly lower than other age groups, as a society we have worked to ensure that older people are protected against poverty. Many older people have incomes clustered above the risk-of-poverty threshold, which is defined as 60% of median income. As a result of incomes increasing across society as a whole, the at-risk-of-poverty threshold also increased.

On people with disabilities, as the Deputy knows the Government commissioned research on the cost of disability. The research has implications for many areas of public policy, including the delivery of care services, health, housing, education, transport and income supports. We have to look at that and we have to act on that report.

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