Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Civil Engagement Group for bringing forward this motion. One of the main reasons so many of us in this House got into politics was to tackle and challenge intergenerational poverty. It is one of the reasons I got into politics. I come from a privileged background. Growing up and helping my dad, I was able to see the difference between what my friends and I had and what other people had. One of my most vivid memories comes from the 2009 local elections. Senator Moynihan was around then as well and we used to do a lot of canvassing. I remember so many houses in the inner city had blue walls, caused not by paint but by blue mould.I remember writing hundreds of letters to the council. I did not get elected at the time. At the end of the day, it did not reply to me; it just sent all the letters relating to the blue mould back to me. However, a few years later, a colleague at the Bar said they were bringing a case to the European Court of Human Rights and were able to get my letter on discovery from the council. At least something good came from it.

Senator Black hit the nail on the head. Housing is a huge issue when it comes to challenging intergenerational poverty as is education. I was not aware the Combat Poverty Agency closed. I hope the Minister of State takes that on board today. The foundations for that agency are there and it could be revived in some way without reinventing the wheel.

We have a good housing plan. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, will invest €20 billion per year into our housing stock. In the past year, I have been at many more housing launches compared to any other year. The number of commencement notices before the council has increased dramatically. We are seeing an increase in supply. It will be slow, but there is a political will there. I hope that we will see that change and people getting housing, whether through cost-rental models, the social housing list or affordable housing. There are schemes and it is coming on track, so we cannot dismiss that completely.

On education, I have said consistently that we need to revisit the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, model. It is just not impacting schools in our cities and towns where one sees the real impact of intergenerational deprivation. We have to revisit it. The original DEIS model worked. We saw attainment ratios go well up, where kids would go on to do their leaving certificate, which was not even dreamed of before, and go on to third level. We need to strive much higher. We need to ensure that we look again at the model, put much more investment into the DEIS model and call it something else. It has to be revisited. The DEIS model is not is a model of sweets to be given to every school in the country. It has to be targeted in areas that need it most.

We had a good budget. There are huge welfare packages coming down the road. Obviously, they are short term, but I think they will be welcomed by people in the short term. We will see a €12 increase in the basic core social welfare payments, the once-off double payment, the Christmas bonus and the list goes on. However, it is not enough. I think all of us in this House are on the same page. I do not think any of us are profiting from it or are looking to profit or keep people down.

However, we are clearly not doing enough. There are people living in extreme poverty. There are children who are not going to school because their parents are not able to send them. We have huge addiction problems in this city and in our towns. It calls for a redirection of funds. Senator Ruane called for a citizens’ assembly on drugs use. That is part of it. We need to figure it out exactly.

We are seeing a huge increase in crime around the city. Much of it is among teenagers who are bored because they have not had any investment into their lives. They cut off the funding to all the youth diversion programmes during the recession. Kids just want to be entertained and in other countries they seem to be much better at giving the kids the skills to use their time more wisely. However, in Ireland, we seem to have just forgotten a core group of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17. We have just sort of let them loose on the streets without thinking about what they are up to and giving them the proper supports.

I see kids outside my office. Sometimes they are in big gangs and one does not get to know them because they are in gangs together. However, if one can manage to talk to them one-on-one, they are lovely kids. They just need someone to listen to them sometimes. In a big gang, they can be quite intimidating, and there is no point saying they are not quite intimidating. However, I do not think it is their fault, rather, it is our fault for not putting the supports in place to help and engage with them. At the end of the day, those we are reading about in newspapers are all kids. It is our fault for not looking after them properly, not giving them proper education, not giving their parents proper housing and not looking after their parents when they needed help for whatever addiction issues they had. If you ring the HSE addiction line looking for help for someone who is an alcoholic, for instance, you may be waiting. There is no point in even having that HSE line. People ring up and leave messages, but no one is getting back to anybody. We have all tried to help constituents and friends and family, but there is very little help out there for people. I commend the motion and I will be supporting it.