Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for an engaging discussion on the important issue of rising food prices. As was already outlined by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, I assure Deputies the fundamental objective of the Government's policy approach to this issue is to take action, monitor the impact of those actions, consult bodies such as the Low Pay Commission, take the suggestions of this House on board and then respond appropriately at the right time.

One of the facets of rising food prices, as part of a wider increase in inflation, is the increased risk of food poverty in our society. This is an area for which I have both a personal concern and a key responsibility. In fact, this morning I joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to speak at the launch of the book on food poverty that Deputy Joan Collins mentioned. In respect of rising food prices and food poverty, the roadmap for social inclusion, for which I have responsibility, is a whole-of-government strategy to reduce poverty and reduce social exclusion and marginalisation in Ireland. The roadmap includes a commitment to develop a comprehensive programme of work to explore further the drivers of food poverty and to identify mitigating actions. On foot of this, last year I established a working group on food poverty to deliver on this commitment. I chair the group and the membership comprises representatives from relevant Departments as well as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Crosscare and the Children's Rights Alliance.

The food poverty working group has focused on two pieces of work to date. The first is a high-level mapping exercise of programmes, services and supports already in existence across government that are tasked with addressing elements of food poverty and providing supports in this area, including everything from hot school meals to meals-on-wheels. A key issue for the future is ensuring that these supports are provided in a coherent manner and in locations where they are needed and availed of by people who need them, to ensure that the services operate as effectively and efficiently as possible in mitigating food poverty. The second piece of work is the development of a research proposal to identify the drivers of food poverty in two case study areas, one urban and one rural, and to examine the range of service providers and actors relating to food poverty in each area. It should also identify any gaps and overlaps in service provision. The findings from this research should further inform the delivery of this commitment as part of the roadmap for social inclusion.

In addition, the Department of Social Protection helps to address food poverty directly through the fund of European aid to the most deprived, FEAD, which supports EU member states' actions to provide food and material assistance to the most deprived. FEAD Ireland received funding of €26 million for the period 2014 to 2020, with over 150 charities nationwide distributing food to their communities. The Department also delivers the school meals programme, which provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,500 schools and organisations, benefiting 230,000 children. A budget of over €68 million has been provided for the scheme in 2022.

I reiterate that the Government is keenly aware of the recent price increases and their impact on households and businesses in Ireland. For this reason the Government acted early in providing a response package. The February package was particularly targeted on the impact of rising costs on fixed-income and low-income households. To summarise, the Government's range of measures included energy credits, excise and VAT reductions on fuel and energy, the extension of the low VAT rate for tourism and hospitality, reducing the caps for multiple children on school transport fees, maintaining the enhancement to the diesel rebate scheme and reducing public transport fees by 20%. All these measures help all households but are of particular benefit to families on low incomes. We specifically targeted low-income households through additional fuel allowance payments which were provided in March and May, €125 and €100 lump sums, respectively, to over 370,000 qualifying low-income households. The overall fuel allowance increase for 2022 has been €355, bringing the total annual payment for fuel allowance to €1,139 per eligible household.

This approach of focusing measures so that they benefit lower-income households is important, as we know that these households have less capacity to absorb price increases. To the extent that prices of basic goods such as food are increasing, these households are more vulnerable to risk of poverty and deprivation than other households. These measures maintain the trend supported by Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, research of complementing general tax and social protection measures with specific measures designed to support those at higher risk of poverty. The full impact of the measures taken to date has yet to feed through, but the Government will continue to monitor the situation, both nationally and internationally, including price developments, in planning future actions and in preparing for the budget. We intend, as we have to date, to complement broader-based welfare and tax changes with targeted measures to support the most vulnerable households at highest risk of poverty.

To conclude, I thank the Members for their time and engagement this evening. It is important to ensure that these issues remain a focus of all Members of the House during a unique period of rising inflation both nationally and internationally. I assure Members that all suggestions and proposals will receive due consideration as the Government continues to respond to the unfolding situation.

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