Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

acknowledges that combating poverty and building an inclusive society are key priorities for the Government;

supports the overall goal of the National Plan for Social Inclusion to reduce the number of those experiencing consistent poverty, to between 2%-4% by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016;

welcomes the vision and long term goals for children as set out in Towards 2016;

acknowledges the considerable improvements in the level and structure of social welfare payments for families with children in recent years;

welcomes the investment in the infrastructure required to support Early Childhood Care and Education places as well as the development of Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education;

notes the significant progress made on the implementation of DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion, which represents an integrated, strategic approach to addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities;

acknowledges that income allowances for medical cards have increased significantly since 2004 and that higher rates of increase have been applied to families with children; and

welcomes the Government's significant achievement in delivering real and tangible outcomes for households in need by delivering more and better quality housing responses and by doing this in a more strategic way, focused on the building of sustainable communities.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak in the debate and to propose the Government's amendment to the motion. While I do not agree with the content of the motion tabled by Senators Hannigan and Prendergast I thank them for providing us with an opportunity to focus on this important area.

The Government amendment is lengthy. Therefore, I propose to focus specifically on aspects of poverty and social inclusion. I am proud of this and previous Fianna Fáil-led Governments' record of delivery in terms of reducing child poverty and promoting social inclusion. Many barriers to social inclusion exist and whether they are economic or environmental they can greatly affect the development of children.

Social inclusion is defined as, "The position from where someone can access and benefit from the full range of opportunities available to members of society". It aims to remove barriers for people who experience a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown. One product of difficulties such as those in most cases is poverty. Child poverty in particular is a considerable cause of distress to children and society and is a real barrier to social inclusion for children.

Our commitment to dealing with child poverty is manifested in two major ways. First, we have consistently increased funding and provided extra resources to combat the scourge that is child poverty. Second, we have developed national policies and systems to end the cycle of child poverty that has affected the State since its foundation.

The Government is committed to tackling child poverty. The national action plan for social inclusion, NAP Inclusion, is to reduce the numbers of those experiencing consistent poverty, including children, to between 2% and 4% by 2012 with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty completely by 2016. That aim is realistic and is being followed through by the Government.

It is important to look at the facts and I hope the Opposition will give credit where it is due. Since coming into office in 1997, Fianna Fáil has lifted 100,000 children out of hardship and deprivation. In 2007, the Central Statistics Office noted that consistent poverty fell from 6.5% to 5.1%. The rate of consistent poverty in the case of children from birth to 17 years reduced from 10.3% in 2006 to 7.4% in 2007. That reduction, while welcome, is only one step along the way to eliminating child poverty.

Unfortunately, for many years lone parents and their children suffered the most from poverty. It is pleasing to note there was a significant reduction in consistent poverty rates for lone parents in 2007 from 33.9% to 20.1%. The results also revealed that the average disposable income in respect of children increased by 16.2% between 2006 and 2007. The significant reduction in consistent poverty among children in 2007 shows us that the combination of policies being pursued is working. We are now in challenging economic times. We will experience disappointments along the way if we are not making progress as quickly as we would like but even in these times the Government's priority remains to maintain and build on our progress. Its determination to do so is demonstrated in the recent budget measures.

I intend to consider three major themes, namely, direct funding for families and children and strategies and services. Three specific payments are made to families to provide financial support to combat child poverty. They demonstrate our ongoing commitment. Child benefit is the major source of funding for families provided by the State. All children under the age of 16, or under 19 if attending third level education, are entitled to it. At present the rate for one child under 18 is €166. For the record, in 1997, it was €38.10, representing a fourfold increase in the past 12 years.

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance is a HSE payment payable to low income families designed to help meet some of the costs associated with children returning to school. The early child care supplement is another State payment to families with children under the age of five. Its purpose is to financially assist families with the cost of raising children. Since its introduction in budget 2006, it has gone some way towards reducing the financial burden on young families, thus I believe helping to create a better standard of living for the nation's children. We are all aware of the recent changes announced by the Minister for Finance last week regarding this payment and while a reduction in the rate is not desirable, the continuation of the payment represents the Government's continuing commitment to providing resources.

Budget 2009 provided for a range of measures costing more than €56 million to benefit children and families. Those increases will mean that the high level goal of maintaining the combined value of child income support measures at 33% to 35% of the minimum adult social welfare payment rate will continue to be met next year.

I wish to turn to services and systems the Government has developed in recent years. Without a doubt, an outstanding example of the Fianna Fáil-led Government's commitment to children has been the establishment of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Since its inception, first as the Office of the Minister for Children and now as the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, the office has been a key sponsor of child-centred policies and initiatives from central Government. The present Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, is charged with implementing the national children's strategy, the national child care investment programme, the Childcare Act, implementing Towards 2016 commitments on children's services and developing policy and legislation on child welfare. That leaves children in Ireland with an even stronger voice at the heart of Government decision making.

The surest way to reduce childhood poverty is by providing a hand up rather than a hand out. The development of employment options for parents is the most progressive way to improve a childhood. One thing always struck me from my experiences of dealing with people at risk of poverty, they want to move beyond their current status. They want the best for their children and they are willing to work with the State to do so.

I would like to think we could eliminate child poverty and that we would ensure there would be real social inclusion but I would like to add a word of caution. While economic factors play a part, so do environmental and societal factors, which can be more complex to address. We must accept there will always be an element of personal responsibility involved.

I wish to refer briefly to health. I welcome the increase in income levels for medical cards and the provision of GP cards. I wish to refer to a particular project of mine. We have made available an immunisation programme for infants. That is one sure way to ensure we take a proactive step to protect children's health. Failure to do so can result in the acquisition of a disability by children, which is something that is entirely preventable. I urge the Minister to bring back a message to Government that we undertake an awareness campaign again. I understand there are genuine fears on the part of parents that such vaccinations may be linked to disorders. We have no scientific evidence for that but we do have scientific evidence to show that failure to immunise leaves children at greater risk of acquiring the disease and subsequently an avoidable disability. Disability is a real barrier to social inclusion for children.