Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his view on the recommendations made by CORI in its socio-economic review 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20797/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The CORI review Addressing Inequality, which was published earlier this year, is currently being examined by my Department. The review analyses the current social and economic position in the country under twelve different headings including income, taxation, work, public services, migration, social participation and sustainability. It sets out a wide range of recommendations under each of these headings to ensure economic development, social equity and sustainability in the medium to long term.

Building an inclusive society continues to be a key priority of the Government. This is evidenced in the National Partnership Agreement, Towards 2016, which was agreed last year by Government and the social partners, including CORI as a member of the Community and Voluntary pillar. The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (NAPinclusion) which was published earlier this year and the social inclusion elements of the National Development Plan, set out a detailed programme of action and demanding targets for achieving greater social inclusion during the period 2007 to 2016. The preparation of the NAPinclusion involved a wide ranging consultation process with key stakeholders including CORI.

The new Agreed Programme for Government builds on these programmes and contains important commitments in relation to pensioners, carers, children and others relying on social welfare incomes.

We will continue to face the challenges of tackling poverty and social inclusion. Significant and visible progress has been made over the last 10 years and I am confident that we can continue to achieve a similar scale of progress in the coming years towards achieving the fairer Ireland sought by CORI.