Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I send my sympathies to the family and friends of Brianna Ghey and solidarity to her trans siblings at this time.

Last week, the Taoiseach not only disputed research produced on behalf of Barnardos which found that one in ten parents has used a food bank in the past year, he sought to undermine the data. As has been clarified, his criticisms of the data were totally, wholly, completely and utterly inaccurate. The Barnardos survey also found that one quarter of parents have had to cut down on paying household bills, such as those relating to gas and electricity, in order to afford food costs over the past 12 months. Yesterday, the ESRI published a peer-reviewed report on housing inadequacy outcomes for children, using data from the Government's Growing Up in Ireland study. Of the age group considered, one in ten children lives in unsuitable housing and a similar proportion of children live in homes that parents cannot afford to keep warm. These are not challenges that have been caused by Covid, the war in Ukraine or the cost-of-living crisis.

They are a consequence of decades of structural inequalities and bad public policies for which the three party leaders must take at least some responsibility. The lead author of the ESRI report found that a significant minority of children experience periods of inadequate housing during their childhood and some spend years exposed to poor housing conditions, with negative impacts on their social and emotional development and their health. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child remains seriously concerned about the large number of children living in poverty, food insecurity and homelessness in Ireland. Dismissing data is not a helpful route to the reduction of child poverty. Is it the intention of the three party leaders to mainstream children's rights particularly into the Housing for All strategy?

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