Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he has received a copy of the eight year study Day In, Day Out, Understanding the Dynamics of Child Poverty by the Combat Poverty Agency and the ESRI; if he will use the study's findings to inform key policy initiatives in his Department; the action he intends to take on the study's conclusions; the efforts he is currently making to address child poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23223/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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This question relates to a study, the title of which includes the words "Day In, Day Out" which is a good phrase to use in regard to politics.

I recently launched the Combat Poverty Agency study on the dynamics of child poverty. The study's key findings are that children tend to move in and out of poverty and that child poverty, and its duration, are affected by a wide range of factors, including the employment, education and health status of parents, and by the number and age of children in the household. The report recommends that the policy response to child poverty should be multi-dimensional in nature and should focus on income supports combined with measures that support employment, education and accessibility of services such as child care and health.

The Government has a strategic process in place for combating poverty, including child poverty, in the form of the national action plan against poverty and social exclusion and the national children's strategy. Ending Child Poverty was also one of ten special initiatives under the social partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress. While these elements remain under active progression, I fully expect that the successor to Sustaining Progress and the next NAP/inclusion 2006-08 will add further impetus to the process.

It is estimated that some 65,000 children remain in consistent poverty and moving these children out of poverty remains my absolute priority. In this regard, I intend to build on the good progress that has been made thus far. Some 100,000 children have been lifted out of deprivation inside the last decade as a result of targeted measures and supports. The most significant measure my Department has taken in recent years to support families with children has been the very substantial real increases in child benefit rates, of which the Deputies are aware.

I have also made substantial improvements to the family income supplement which assists families at work on low pay. Assessment of entitlement to payment is now on the basis of net rather than gross income, while increases in the income limits have made it easier for lower-income households to qualify under the scheme. My Department also undertook a very successful nationwide awareness campaign last March, as was mentioned earlier.

In addition to the improvements outlined, budget 2006 contained a range of measures aimed at families with children. More than 350,000 children under six years of age, in 250,000 families, will qualify for the new annual €1,000 early child care supplement which will be paid on an agency basis by my Department. The cost of the supplement will be approximately €360 million in a full year.

One of the key tasks in the Ending Child Poverty initiative under Sustaining Progress was to address obstacles to employment for lone parents. As the House is aware, I launched a major Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents. That report puts forward proposals for reforms in this area. These proposals are currently the subject of an extensive consultation process and, as I said previously, I hope to bring forward proposals for legislation in the course of this year.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Preparation of an implementation plan regarding the non-income recommendations of the discussion paper is in progress.

The establishment of the Office of the Minister for Children under the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, represents a major reorganisation of policy and services for children that will facilitate the development of a strategic and co-ordinated approach to children policy and the delivery of services both at national and local level.

I am confident that, through the targeted measures already being taken by the Government and the initiatives being planned, a decisive and lasting impact will be made in the eradication of child poverty.

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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A more apt title for the study would be "one day at a time" from the point of view of many young children who are experiencing poverty. Despite our affluence, is it not an indictment of our society that a report from the Combat Poverty Agency tracing a period over six or seven years indicates that just under one fifth of children, or 182,000 children, experience poverty over an extended period of between five and eight years. That illustrates a significant failure to intervene in a focused and targeted way to ensure that statistic becomes obsolete. Income poverty is measured as being below 60% of the median income threshold for society as a whole. Is it not also a fact that the age of children and family size tend to affect the length of time for which a child experiences poverty?

Given that a quarter of all our children experience poverty for one to two years and one-fifth remain locked in poverty for between five and eight years, the question must be asked why all those dramatic initiatives, targets and interventions have failed to singularly address an issue that blackens the name of our country across the world? We are now noted to have significant elements of child poverty. What targeted policies will be introduced to arrest and eliminate this trend? One child in poverty is one too many in a country that is awash with cash. Why is this number of children experiencing poverty?

The report reveals that a child whose parents did not go to secondary school, in other words, whose education was confined to basic primary level, is 23 times more likely to live in poverty compared to a child whose parents have achieved third level education. Should the focus in this respect not be on education? A multifaceted approach is required to tackle this problem. The welfare benefits and the child care allowances the Minister mentioned are all well and good but they have failed to reach the target. Is it not important to increase access to employment, to remove disincentives and poverty traps, to have more pre-school education and to have affordable child care at pre-school and post school level? We need to target child poverty. In my view and that of the Labour Party, every child has the right to be brought up free from poverty, to enjoy a fulfilling childhood and to realise his or her full potential. That is what the Labour Party believes and that is what should be written into the Constitution if it means anything today.

The Minister should use this report. It is useful in that it should enable us to develop policies and measures that target the root causes of poverty. Let us not have only documents on tackling this issue and some social partners coming out and blowing their trumpet about what they have achieved. They have achieved nothing while child poverty is at the current level. Have we a national partnership agreement and, if so, what elements of it will tackle child poverty? What elements of the national anti-poverty strategy will tackle it? What provisions are there in the national development plan to address it?

What is needed to tackle this problem is a co-ordinated strategy at Government level, joined-up thinking and joined-up Government. The involvement of the Office of the Minister for Children is required. The Minister for Education and Science has a key role to play in early intervention to support the education and development of young children. The involvement of the Minister's department is critical together with the involvement of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. We need to ensure that the transition from welfare to work is supported to eliminate poverty traps, especially for children of lone parents. We need flexible child care services, education and training supports, flexible employment arrangements and a proper balance between parenting and working. I suggest to the Minister that a co-ordinated approach be adopted to eliminate child poverty once and for all.

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I do not disagree with the sentiments expressed by the Deputy. My absolute policy priority is child poverty. It is way ahead of all the other responsibilities I have, for which I make no apology, because at the start of the 21st century, as the Deputy said, even one child living in poverty is one child too many.

The debate that has been raging about statistics is one with which I must contend every day. The EU SILC survey shows that consistent poverty experienced by children reduced from 12% in 2003 to 9% in 2004, and that was the position two years ago. The best estimate we can give of the position today is a figure of approximately 65,000, but that is 65,000 children too many. However, using exactly the same measure, approximately 100,000 children would have been added to that figure a decade ago. Therefore, we are making solid progress in this area and we need to continue to do so.

Child benefit is a major help to families, as are the various schemes available, family income supplement in particular, lone parents allowances — and it was noted there is a prevalence of child poverty in lone parent families. All these allowances are being substantially and steadily increased. Disregards have been put in place as well as a system to encourage and allow people to move from welfare back to work. All these measures are targeted to finally eliminate that scourge from the country.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The next question is No. 47.

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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That question relates to the Pensions Board. Before I take it, I wish to advise the House that I do not have a prepared answer for Question No. 48, for which I apologise. There must have been some confusion as a result of a postponement last week, which is totally on my side. I apologise to the House for that and I can deal with this matter at another time.