Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 312: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will report on the progress of the key areas of competence of the Combat Poverty Agency which was abolished by the previous Government and whose functions were transferred to her Department. [30919/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The integration of the Combat Poverty Agency and the Office for Social Inclusion to form the new Social Inclusion Division in the Department took place on 1st July 2009. A strategic plan setting out the functions and objectives for the Division was agreed between the outgoing Board of the agency and the Department, which encompassed the key areas of competence of the agency.

The Division transferred to the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs in 2010. With the re-assignment of functions from that Department in 2011, the functions of the Division were transferred back to the Department of Social Protection by statutory instrument. They include co-ordinating the implementation of Government policies for social inclusion, promoting the implementation of poverty impact assessment in government policy making, analysing the impact and effectiveness of public policy on poverty, promoting data and research to inform anti-poverty policies and practice, monitoring poverty trends, developing mechanisms to promote the participation of people experiencing poverty in policy development and implementation and promoting co-operation on social inclusion issues between Ireland and other countries.

The Division continues to meet these functions and plays a lead role in co-ordinating Government policies against poverty and for social inclusion at national and EU levels. For instance, in the last six months, the Division has:

· convened the Social Inclusion Forum attended by a wide range of community and voluntary organisations;

· produced the Social Inclusion Report to monitor progress on the implementation of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion for 2009 and 2010;

· led the review of the national poverty target to enable Government to adopt appropriate and achievable targets to meet Ireland's contribution to the Europe 2020 Strategy and the commitments in the Programme for Government; and

· published new research on childhood deprivation and convened a national conference with key stakeholders to discuss its findings and policy implications, and has supported a summer school by University College Cork on conceptualising and measuring poverty in the 21st Century.

The Division continues to maintain a website (www.socialinclusion.ie ) and this provides further details on its activities and reports.