Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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108. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his plans to deal with child poverty in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2324/15]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I ask the Minister to outline his plans to address child poverty this year. He will be aware that Ireland ranks 37th out of 41 OECD countries, ahead of Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland, in a league table measuring relative changes in child poverty. Approximately 130,000 children in the State are living in dire poverty, which means their families do not have enough food on the table and they do not have breakfast before leaving for school each morning. Many of them rely on school completion programmes to feed them before the school day begins. I do not want to hear the Minister engage in a blame game or allude to committees that are examining this issue. What is he doing to address child poverty?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Child poverty is a serious issue which is being considered by the Government. Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2014-2020, which was published and launched by the Government in 2014, provides the overarching framework for the development and implementation of policy and services for children and young people. As provided for in the framework, the Department of Social Protection is the lead Department on child poverty and has lead responsibility for the commitment to lift more than 70,000 children out of consistent poverty by 2020. This would deliver a reduction of at least two thirds on the 2011 level. The Department of Social Protection also has lead responsibility for the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion.

The outcomes of the recent national seminar under the auspices of the European Commission and Departments of Social Protection and Children and Youth Affairs will inform the development of an implementation plan for tackling child poverty.

My Department is working on a number of initiatives which are relevant in addressing issues related to child poverty.

For example, in terms of other provision, my Department is spending €260 million annually on child care support programmes which provide child care to 100,000 children. A number of these programmes are targeted at those on lowest incomes. The community child care scheme programme provides subvention support to parents on low incomes and parents in receipt of certain social welfare payments whose children are enrolled in community child care facilities. Additionally, the three training and employment child care, TEC, programmes - the child care education and training programme, the community employment child care programme and the after-school child care programme - provide child care supports to eligible parents returning to work or to education.

The Department is leading the implementation of the area based childhood, ABC, programme. The ABC programme is being co-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies and will have total funding of up to €29.7 million. The ABC programme draws on best international practice to break the cycle of child poverty where it is most deeply entrenched and improve the outcomes for children and young people and existing services.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The outcomes of the recent European Commission-Department of Social Protection-Department of Children and Youth Affairs national seminar will inform the development of an implementation plan for tackling child poverty.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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The Minister used the buzz-words "lead Department" and spoke about plans for 2020. What I am interested in is what he is going to do in 2015. It is important that the Minister and the Government acknowledge there is a huge problem in regard to poverty in this State. Yesterday was an example that proved how out of touch the Government is, when we had the Taoiseach, Ministers and the IMF prancing around Dublin Castle and patronising the Irish people about having to put up with austerity for the last number of years.

I would like to remind the Minister of a couple of things. Eighteen OECD countries recorded a reduction in child poverty during the same period, including Chile, Australia and Poland. Is the Minister aware that UNICEF has said the impact of the financial crisis saw a disproportionate decline in children's well-being? In other words, its report disputes the "blame it on the recession" or "blame it on Fianna Fáil" syndrome. The fact is that out of the 41 countries, 18 managed to reduce child poverty despite the economic downturn whereas Ireland managed to increase it.

The Minister should answer those questions and stop distracting people with his other comments. His job is to try to get children out of poverty. He should get on and do it.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My job, as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, is to secure better outcomes and brighter futures for children, and that includes getting them out of poverty and also includes supporting their parents. As I was saying in my initial reply, my Department also provides targeted support for disadvantaged, marginalised and at-risk young people. This is provided through the special projects for youth scheme, the young people's facilities and services fund - rounds 1 and 2 - and the local drugs task force projects. In addition, some 31 national and major regional youth work organisations are supported under my Department's youth service grant scheme and other schemes include the local youth club grant scheme and the youth information centres. In 2015, current funding of €49.93 million will be provided to my Department for these schemes.

I again take the opportunity to record my gratitude and thanks to the tens of thousands of volunteers who support our young people through these clubs. Their volunteerism is extraordinary and is among the best in the world. In fact, we have information showing that this country has the greatest amount of engagement of young people in this sort of organisation.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I would like the Minister to develop the point further. Would he agree that countries should place the well-being of children at the top of their priorities during an economic recession? My second point is that children who live in poverty are more likely to become poor adults and continue this cycle. It is sad to see that it takes a report from an outside agency like UNICEF to highlight the poverty of our own children. We need to stop this short-termism and look at interventions to prevent long-term problems of child poverty. This is not being addressed and we need to be more inclusive and creative. I said earlier we have 130,000 children in severe poverty and we need to do something about it.

Poland, which I mentioned earlier, has reduced child poverty by 30%. Perhaps the Minister should look at how it did it and perhaps he should visit Poland for advice, because there has been an increase in child poverty in this country while Poland and other countries have reduced it by 30%. I suggest the Minister should look at examples of good practice across Europe and get on with the job.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that children and child poverty are a priority for the Government. This was the first Government to create a full Cabinet level post for a Minister for Children. Our commitment to improving outcomes for children is clear and I make it clear that our children are our future. I am privileged to have been the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs for several months and I have found nothing but enthusiasm and energy from our younger people. I feel secure about the country's future when I see the young people who will lead us into the future.

My Department has a critical role in regard to child poverty, but the lead Department is the Department of Social Protection. We look to other jurisdictions to see what they do well and what they do not do so well. The idea behind the setting up of the interdepartmental group is to look at affordability and access and, as it says in its title, to look at future investment in childhood and how we invest in our children. It seeks to look at the entire investment we make. While my Department spends €260 million in this area, the Department of Social Protection spends a lot more. Other areas also spend significant sums. We are seeking coherence and understanding of how all of this money is spent so as to be able to get best value for money before we invest further money.

I believe we will need to invest further money and believe the interdepartmental group will come forward with a coherent policy that will cover all of the age groups. It will look at different ways of supporting all age groups to help children and parents and achieve better outcomes for children.