Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ruane for tabling this motion. It is crucial that we discuss poverty, which does not get as much discussion time as it should.

I represent Roscommon and Galway in the west, counties which have dispersed populations, many of whose members experience rural isolation. Senator Ruane spoke about her background, and I would like to speak about mine. I was the first person in my family to go to college. I grew up on a small farm. Both of my parents farmed and had part-time jobs on top of that, but we were always at the pin of our collar. There are so many families who struggle in that way. Some of the challenges faced by my parent's generation, 40 or 50 years ago, were relieved by the valve of emigration. People left the country to better their prospects. To be here as a representative now is, for me, absolutely astonishing, given that my grandparents struggled hard to raise a family. Indeed, they struggled to even have children who survived, such were the rates of infant mortality. My parents also struggled. It is amazing to see the country Ireland has become today, particularly when one thinks of the poverty in the 1950s and 1960s. I do not want to take away from the poverty we are dealing with right now but when one looks back to that period, one realises how much the country has changed.

As a democratic country, we must continue to strive to achieve even better statistics. The Minister of State visited my town of Ballinasloe earlier this year. He visited Galway Rural Development Company Limited, which leads the SICAP in Galway and which focuses on social inclusion and community activation. I had an opportunity to speak to the Minister of State that day and I highlighted the fact that Ballinasloe is a town with a lot of challenges. It ranks very highly on the Pobal deprivation index, along with many city centre areas in Dublin. We are talking about deep-natured structural poverty that is intergenerational. Breaking that cycle can be a real challenge. The Minister of State and I also discussed the fact that certain supports are needed. He spoke about SICAP which is funded through the LEADER programme by the Department of Rural and Community Development. We need a family resource centre in Ballinasloe because there are segments of our population that are really vulnerable. In particular, I refer to single parents, often single mothers, with young children, Travellers and people with disabilities. We need to have supports such as family resource centres in the areas we have identified.

The Minister of State talked about the empowering communities programme. County Galway is one of the 14 areas included in that and I would be grateful if he would provide details on the specific areas within the county that are included. I also have a question for the Minister of State related to the census. The Pobal deprivation index gets so much of its data from the 2016 census. When are we going to see the outworking of the last census in 2021?

Senator Boylan talked about a lack of statistics. I disagree with her on that. We do have statistics. Our census is a key tool for gathering information about our country and helps to inform us on the measures and policies we need to put in place. The challenge we have in the west, in the context of the provision of services and amenities, comes down to population. We have people who are struggling but we do not have enough of them. If the population is not in the 1 million bracket or the 500,000 bracket, how does one get the services needed? In Ballinasloe, we have a level 1 DEIS primary school and a secondary school. The only secondary school in Galway that was added to the DEIS programme was in Ballinasloe. Across the country, one in four schools is accessing supports under DEIS.

It is said that one must judge a country by the way it treats its most vulnerable and I agree. That is the measure we should always use. We have to fight. Fine Gael believes in fighting for a fair society, where all are equal and where everybody has opportunities. We must focus on disadvantaged areas and their access to supports. I am my party's spokesperson on education. For me, education must be about supporting young children from disadvantaged areas. The free schoolbooks programme at primary level is very important, as is the school summer programme, which was announced yesterday.It was announced just yesterday. That is €10 million that has been allocated for people, particularly children, from educational disadvantage. We need to see more schools do those two weeks of summer provision. We see, I think, 25% of our schools, primary and secondary, rolling out that programme. That is only in recent years. We need to see more schools doing that to ensure that those children, be it from the point of view of literacy or numeracy, can get added supports and that additional two-week focus. It does not need to involve only the principals and the teachers; student teachers, different therapies, nursing and healthcare could also come in and deliver that programme. We need to see more of the programme rolled out.

Something else I will mention is apprenticeships and the importance of earning and learning. It is perhaps very expensive and maybe it puts young people on the back foot in respect of the leaving certificate and their saying they cannot get a qualification. However, there are also opportunities for young people to get qualifications through a lot of our apprenticeships, which have been broadened out to so many areas, not just our traditional trades and crafts but also just ways for young people to see they can reach their careers of choice and where they want to go through other opportunities.

As for childcare and supports for single mums, the Minister of State mentioned the working family payment. If I may seek confirmation, I believe that that is available to young parents working at least 38 hours over two weeks. There is also the universal childcare scheme. As well as a living wage, we have to look at measures that support the costs families face. In saying that, I am focusing in particular on single parents. There is the GP visit card and access to a medical card, but the GP visit card from next April will be for those with earnings under the median income. How will that median income be evaluated? Maybe we have a rough idea at the moment. Is it in the mid-€30,000s? What is that median income? Potentially how will that be evaluated in April of next year?

Older people are a big concern to me in the region of Roscommon-Galway. According to the latest census, there is a high proportion of people over 66. The things I talk about when I go knocking on doors are the fuel allowance and people not being afraid to put on the heat. Come January of next year, the eligibility criteria will be widened for people over 70. We have to ensure that. Are we looking at an additional 60,000 to 80,000 families coming in under that? Fuel allowance comes under the Department of Social Protection.

As for healthcare, Senator Ruane, I think, mentioned addiction, and I totally agree with her on that. I will finish up on this point. Sometimes we face an awful lot of issues with drug and alcohol addiction. We see that, and it has been mentioned in the context of our city centres. That is also a huge issue. I know that in our hospitals, including in Portiuncula and Roscommon, that is a big challenge. We therefore need to see supports, including alcohol addiction supports, through healthcare in our towns.