Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 109: To ask the Taoiseach the reason for the delay in publishing a breakdown of the number living in persistent poverty. [12754/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) in Ireland is a household survey covering a broad range of issues in relation to income and living conditions. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and also provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate and the consistent poverty rate.

The 'at-risk-of-persistent-poverty-rate' refers to the percentage of persons at risk of poverty in a given year and in at least 2 of the preceding 3 years. By its nature the 'at-risk-of-persistent-poverty-rate' can only be calculated for persons in the sample for a 4 year period. As a rotational sample design is used for SILC, whereby one quarter of households are replaced each year, a small proportion of total households remain in the sample for 4 years.

It is the CSO's view at this point that, given the small number of households, a reliable estimate of persistent poverty cannot be calculated. However, the CSO is continuing to study the problem with a view to producing a reliable estimate.