Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that information. We need this ground to be included in any revision of the equality Acts. Recent budgets have further divided society. Recent research on deprivation, carried out by Pobal, highlighted that County Clare is marginally above average in terms of deprivation, with Kilrush being extremely disadvantaged and having a lone parent rate of almost 50%. Slightly fewer than 10% of my constituents finished their education at the end of primary school, according to Clare FM. There has been a lot of talk in this House in recent months about the Government getting tough on crime, but until we tackle the root causes of deprivation in society, there will continue to be spikes in crime throughout the country, along with other issues.

Last night, I attended the launch of new research by Clare Public Participation Network, PPN, in collaboration with the think-tank TASC, which looks at socioeconomic rights and just transition. It found that poverty in County Clare is infrastructural and systemic and located the origins of disadvantage in national and local policymaking.

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