Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he is satisfied that the methodology of measuring consistent poverty as used under EU-SILC provides a true measure of the level of consistent poverty here. [5241/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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People are regarded as being in consistent poverty if their income is below 60 per cent of median income (€202.50 per week for a single person) and they experience deprivation in relation to a list of specific items. The items chosen are based on surveys of what people consider are essential for a basic standard of living in Ireland. The measure, originally developed by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in 1987, has now been adjusted to take account of economic progress and rising living standards in recent years. The adjustment has involved the replacement of the original 8 item deprivation index with an updated index comprising 11 items, which is more reflective of today's standards of living. A person with income below 60 per cent of median income is regarded as being in consistent poverty if he or she experiences deprivation in relation to two out of the 11 items on the updated index, as compared to one out of eight items on the old index. ESRI research has shown that this approach provides a more reliable measurement for consistent poverty compared to the earlier approach.

The Government has accepted the ESRI's advice and the updated index now forms the basis for the overall poverty reduction goal in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (NAPinclusion) 2007-2016. The goal is to reduce the number of people experiencing consistent poverty, to between 2 per cent and 4 per cent by 2012, with the aim of eliminating it by 2016. The latest results from the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions, released last November, indicate that the Government is on target to achieve this goal. It showed that, using the new measure, the rate of consistent poverty in the population in 2006 was 6.5 per cent, down from 7.0 per cent in 2005. My priority, in working with Government to deliver the NAPinclusion programme over the coming years, is to build on the progress already achieved and to continue significantly improving living standards and well-being for the most vulnerable people in our society.