Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I will launch the first major annual report of the Office for Social Inclusion tomorrow morning. The office, which is based in the Department of Social and Family Affairs, was established in 2002. It has overall responsibility for developing, co-ordinating and driving the national anti-poverty strategy, which is the national action plan for combating poverty and social inclusion. The office is responsible for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the progress that is being made in meeting the objectives of the plan across the various policy areas. Although the office is led by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, which is required to ensure that everything the Government does is "poverty-proofed", it cuts across all Departments because they are required to have a social inclusion focus. The Office for Social Inclusion will have a great deal to say about that tomorrow.

It is almost a cliché to say it, but it needs to be emphasised every time we discuss this matter that employment is the main instrument in the fight against poverty. The best tactic to use in that fight is to ensure that everybody who is able to work — I refer to those who want to work and are in a position to do so — can find paid employment. We need to focus on anti-poverty measures to assist people, and more importantly their children, who cannot get employment for various reasons, for none of which they can be blamed. A number of reports have indicated that poverty is prevalent in the households of those who are in employment but are low-paid.

The Office for Social Inclusion commissioned the recent ESRI report on relative income poverty, which emphasised that not all those below relative income thresholds are poor. Senator Terry is aware that the EU, which is working on fresh measurements of poverty, has described such people as being at risk of poverty. That is another measure. I urge caution when comparing different countries because the EU does not take account of other resources which people may have when it calculates income thresholds. Such resources are particularly relevant in Ireland because its level of home ownership — it is approximately 86% — is high, particularly among the elderly. Most other countries do not have anything like such a high percentage of home ownership. The EU's system of measurement does not take account of benefits in kind, such as electricity, fuel, television licences and travel allowances, which are received under various schemes which are almost unique to Ireland. I am proud that the Department of Social and Family Affairs holds the chairmanship of the EU's social protection committee. It will use that role to further its anti-poverty agenda.

The Government is committed to increasing the basic old age pension to €200 by 2007. The basic rate of social welfare will be increased to €150 per week, in 2002 terms, by 2007. Such measures are weapons that can be used in the fight against poverty.