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

As I said, since 2011, the number of children in consistent poverty has fallen by 45,000 to 62,000 in 2021 and the consistent poverty rate has fallen to 5.2%. I am not disputing that we need to do more but we were making progress. However, we were suddenly faced with a cost-of-living crisis. The Deputy can appreciate that we now need to focus on that. This crisis has had an impact and we need to focus on it. The new child poverty and well-being unit will be established in the Department of the Taoiseach in the first quarter of 2023. The Government is committed to reducing child poverty, as outlined in the programme for Government and the roadmap for social inclusion.

However, poverty is multidimensional and requires a whole-of-government approach to provide the necessary supports. We have increased the qualified child allowance for the past three years and expanded the free school meals programme.

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