Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)

Last week, the Taoiseach published an op-ed in the Irish Independent declaring that the time to end child poverty is now. That sentiment is very welcome but his analysis was incomplete. Yesterday, my party leader rightly pointed out that consistent child poverty has doubled in the past two years to 8.5% when the Government's target is 3%. Earlier this month, the ESRI published a report that one in every five children - more than 225,000 - are now in poverty when housing costs are taken into account.

The Taoiseach said earlier that he is committed to employment and economically sustainable finances but what good is employment if it is the most unequal market income in the developed world? How sustainable is a doubling of child poverty? At a webinar on child poverty held by the Children's Rights Alliance last week, the deputy Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection rightly said: "If a family does not have access to secure and affordable housing, it is almost impossible to provide the services required to lift them out of poverty." Will the Taoiseach and his sub-committee outline the targeted approach to child poverty, including housing? Will he acknowledge the devastating role his housing policies, that he has voted for over the previous decade, have played in escalating child poverty?

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