Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 413: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he intends to address the ending of child poverty in budget 2006 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32637/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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In mid-October, I held a pre-budget forum which was attended by 31 representative organisations which included five of the members of the End Child Poverty Coalition. The five organisations were Barnardos, Children's Rights Alliance, Open, Pavee Point and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. At the forum, each organisation had the opportunity to present its key priorities for consideration in advance of budget 2006. I thank each of the members of the End Child Poverty Coalition for their contribution to the forum and the valuable work which they and many other organisations do in their communities.

I have also received a written budget submission from the End Child Poverty Coalition, entitled Last Chance to End Child Poverty by 2007, which sets out a wide range of proposals relating to children. These proposals, with the proposals put forward by other organisations, will be considered in the context of the forthcoming budget.

As I mentioned at the pre-budget forum, tackling the scourge of child poverty is one of the great challenges facing us today. It is a complex area and for the past year considerable time and effort has been devoted to analysing the issues and developing proposals on child income support and addressing the particular difficulties of lone parent families. For example, the National Economic and Social Council is examining the feasibility of a second tier child income support payment, which would replace child dependant allowance and family income supplement and would be paid in addition to child benefit to lower income families whether in employment.

I will be giving careful consideration to all these proposals, including those of the End Child Poverty Coalition, in framing this year's social welfare budget package.