Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his plans for the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Inclusion 2010. [12092/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The European Commission's proposal to designate 2010 as the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion is currently under consideration by the European Council and the European Parliament.

This proposal essentially arises from the decision of the European Council at Lisbon in March 2000 to invite Member States and the Commission to take steps to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty by 2010. Member States in response adopted national strategies designed to progressively achieve this objective. The EU Commission and the EU Social Protection Committee through the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) provided detailed guidance and supports for the process with a view to promoting a coordinated strategic approach across Member States.

The Commission's proposal for the designated year will build on these processes and is also intended to reaffirm and strengthen the political commitment of the European Union to eradicate poverty beyond 2010. The types of actions and activities envisaged include meetings, seminars and other events; informational and promotional campaigns; and surveys and studies at a national and European Union level.

Ireland welcomes and supports the Commission's proposal for the European Year in 2010. The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 (NAPinclusion) underlines the continued importance and value of a strategic approach. This plan, together with the major social inclusion commitments in the National Development Plan, provide for a coordinated strategy to combat poverty and social exclusion well into the next decade.

The programmes and activities planned for 2010 under the EU Commission proposal should greatly assist in deepening understanding of the challenges to be faced in the coming decades, the policies and resources required to continue to make a decisive impact on poverty, the nature and extent of the progress achieved over the past decade and how that can be built on to match and, where possible, exceed that level of progress in the years ahead. The year will be marked, in particular, by the involvement of all relevant stakeholders, not least people experiencing poverty, in the process.

Ireland, therefore, will be fully supporting the proposal to designate 2010 as the European Year for Combating Poverty Social Exclusion at the Council of Ministers meeting which is to take place in June. Preliminary consideration is being given by the Office for Social Inclusion to the specific type of actions being proposed by the EU Commission for 2010. This also includes consideration of structures that would be appropriate for coordinating implementation and providing for the effective involvement of the social partners and other relevant stakeholders in the process.