Dáil debates

Thursday, 3 November 2011

2:00 pm

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the UNICEF report The Child Left Behind - a table of inequality in child well-being in the world's rich countries, in particular the finding that our child poverty rate was 13.5% with taxes and social transfers taken into account (details supplied); if she will fight the case for child poverty and defend children from direct and indirect social transfer cuts; her plan to tackle child poverty here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32627/11]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The UNICEF report card published in 2010 shows that in terms of material inequality, Ireland is close to the OECD average. Ireland is ranked 13th, with the best performing country identified as Switzerland. In terms of inequalities in education and health outcomes, Ireland is ranked in second and seventh place, respectively, to the best performing countries. I am very glad to note this information because some key health issues are not currently being addressed. We need to do some better screening and there are serious issues of obesity affecting three-year olds.

Tackling child poverty is a priority for Government and a goal of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007- 2016, co-ordinated by the Department of Social Protection. As the report highlights, children are more likely to be poor if they are living in lone parent households with low labour market participation and dependant on income support. The Departments of Social Protection, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and Education and Skills, are working to deliver a range of measures aimed at getting people back to work. A job is the best way to lift people out of poverty.

My Department works closely with other Departments with shared objectives to secure better outcomes for children and young people. The Department is represented on the advisory group on tax and social welfare established by the Minister for Social Protection to examine issues to do with the interactions of the tax and welfare systems to provide good incentives for work and thereby contribute to the reduction of child poverty, in particular.

My Department has responsibility for a number of programmes which are very important in improving children's outcomes. One of the points in the UNICEF report is the importance of early childhood care and how this can improve educational and other outcomes for children, in particular, when aimed at low income families. These are important priorities for me and the Department. I will do everything possible to ensure that the ECCE scheme, the early childhood care scheme, is protected in the forthcoming budget. Some €166 million is being spent by my Department on a universal, free preschool year and a further €43 million is being made available to provide additional targeted child care support for low income parents under the community child care subvention scheme. I would like to see early intervention enhanced as this supports children who are falling behind their peers. The plans for the new child and family support agency are being developed with the advice of an expert task force under the remit of my Department. This agency will have an important role in improving the effectiveness of supports available to children and in particular those children from vulnerable families.

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. There are many facets to the UNICEF report, The Child Left Behind. As regards the assessment of the material well-being of children in the 24 richest countries, Ireland is listed at 22nd with only Poland and Hungary below us. That assessment was based on the percentage of children in homes with incomes below 50% of the national average. The second assessment was the percentage of families without an employed adult, a point made by the Minister. The third assessment was the percentage of children living in homes with fewer than ten books in the home.

The role of taxes and social transfers in this country plays a key role. A total of 13.5% of our children are kept out of poverty because of these transfers because without them, the rate would be up to 35% and this is an important marker. In most countries, the marker would be about 10% to 15%.

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Has the Deputy a question for the Minister?

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Minister made a point about the protection of preschool payments. It is vital that in this budget the protection of child benefit payments must be sacrosanct. Will the Minister commit to oppose any cuts in child benefit?

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The provision for the various income support systems in 2012 will be a matter for consideration by the Minister for Social Protection and the Government in the budgetary process. I appreciate the Deputy's point about the role of child benefit payments and the support it offers to families, particularly the families who are most vulnerable and most marginalised. I will work with other Departments to ensure that we give the very best supports to children and families and protect the vulnerable within the extraordinarily difficult financial situation which faces the Government.

It is important to have a look at that report. We hear a great deal of bad news but it is encouraging that the report awards Ireland an overall score of seven out of a possible eight points for its overall performances. It places Ireland in the better than the OECD average overall, along with Iceland, Norway and Sweden. There is good news in this report but I certainly take the Deputy's point about child poverty. It is clear that children are vulnerable to child poverty when there is unemployment in a household. This is why we must focus on job creation. Children are poor in the context of their families and there is a clear and strong link between poverty and unemployment and children in jobless households are three times more likely to experience consistent poverty than children in general. I take the point that there is no room for complacency.

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I agree that job creation is crucial for taking families out of poverty. However, this will take time. I ask for a commitment from the Minister that in this budget the child benefit will be protected and that the Minister will actively oppose any cuts in child benefit until some time in a few years when there is more employment.