David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I think people should understand clearly what this motion is calling for. We are calling for the social inclusion division of the Department of Social Protection to carry out a poverty impact analysis study. We are essentially calling on the Government to start poverty proofing policies. There is nothing wrong with that. We could have a whole raft of anti-poverty organisations - people who advocate on behalf of those who live in poverty - before this House and there would be no end of Senators who would come in and tell them how great they are, how great their work is, how they empathise with them, how people should not live in poverty and so on. Yet when we call for a policy to be poverty proofed, then there is something wrong with that. We are essentially saying that if a Government brings in a charge and that charge is likely to lead more people into poverty, then we have a difficulty with that.

Senator Norris had some concerns and I accept almost all of what he said. He went through the full list in the amendment very well, but the list is not of Sinn Féin's making. It is from the list provided by the ESRI and it is supported by a broad range of anti-poverty agencies. I believe everybody in this House is concerned about those living in poverty. We are simply stating the measurement of poverty. These are not our words or our measure. We are accepting the measure according to the baseline in Europe, the ESRI and all those organisations.