Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 700: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress in relation to the programme for Government commitment to continue to support the Office of Social Inclusion and review the effectiveness of the poverty proofing mechanisms currently being used; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29954/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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With effect from 1st July 2009 (in line with the Government Decision announced in Budget 2009), the Combat Poverty Agency and the Office for Social Inclusion have been integrated to form a new division within the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The new division will combine the experience and expertise of the staff of both bodies. It will enable a strengthened and unified approach to the implementation of the Government's National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007 to 2016.

In accordance with the commitment made in the Programme for Government, the Office for Social Inclusion has been given the necessary support for reviewing the effectiveness of the poverty proofing mechanisms. Poverty proofing at national level has been developed, in the light of experience, into a more focused poverty impact assessment of policies. The overall aim of this new approach is to determine the impact of policies in the achievement of the goals, objectives and targets of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion. This will not only determine whether the impact of policies is positive, neutral or negative, but the extent to whether there is potential to achieve more positive outcomes. These developments have been reflected in substantial revisions of the guidelines for Departments on poverty impact assessment, the most recent of which were made in March 2008. The overall aim is to work towards a situation where the process is mainstreamed into the development, review and evaluation of social inclusion related policies. The new division will, as a priority, continue the provision of assistance to government departments on the application of the poverty impact assessment guidelines, including their updating, as appropriate, in the light of experience

It will also advance further the significant work carried out by the Combat Poverty Agency on the implementation of poverty impact assessment at local level. In 2008, the Agency published guidelines on carrying out poverty impact assessment at local level as part of its updated guide to "Developing a Local Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy'. The staff of the new division will continue to work with a number of local authorities on the application of new guidelines in a local government context.

The promotion and further development of poverty impact assessment will remain a key priority in the work of the new integrated division. It will feature as a significant theme in the National Programme for the EU Year (2010), on combating poverty and social exclusion. The new Division has been invited to give a presentation of its experience of poverty impact assessment at a Conference under the Luxembourg National Programme in April 2010, and a follow up conference will be held later that year in Dublin.

The experience gained from these processes at national and local level will assist in the ongoing development of training programmes for staff on their application of the poverty impact assessment guidelines across all government departments and local authorities, as part of their policy development, review and evaluation processes.