Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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38. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the implementation of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18847/13]

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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40. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the progress that has been made on the Programme for Government objective of eliminating poverty; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18964/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 40 together.

The Department published its third periodic report on progress in implementing NAPinclusion for the two year period 2009-2010 in July 2012 and is in the process of completing a further progress update for January 2011 to December 2012. The Department also convened the Social Inclusion Forum in March 2013 so as to enable us to get the views of all stakeholders on progress with the NAPinclusion. A report on the Forum will be completed in due course. The Department published its third periodic report on progress in implementing NAPinclusion for the two year period 2009-2010 in July 2012 and is in the process of completing a further progress update for January 2011 to December 2012. The Department also convened the Social Inclusion Forum in March 2013 so as to enable us to get the views of all stakeholders on progress with the NAPinclusion. A report on the Forum will be completed in due course.

Following a comprehensive review in 2012, the Government revised the national social target for poverty reduction. The revised target is to reduce consistent poverty to 4 per cent by 2016 (interim target) and to 2 per cent or less by 2020, from the 2010 baseline rate of 6.2 per cent. Ireland’s revised contribution to the EU poverty target is to lift a minimum of 200,000 people out of the population in ‘combined poverty’ between 2012 and 2020. In addition, the Government has agreed to set new sub-targets for children and jobless households and to strengthen the implementation of the target through annual monitoring and social impact assessment.

The Department recently published, for the first time, a “Social Inclusion Monitor” using the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to report on progress towards the national social target for poverty reduction. In 2011, the consistent poverty rate was 6.9 per cent, which according to the CSO ‘is not a statistically significant change on the 2010 figure of 6.3 per cent’. The consistent poverty trend in the first year of monitoring the new target reflects the severity of the economic crisis but also demonstrates the effectiveness of policy given the strong performance of social transfers in protecting those on the lowest incomes. In 2011, social transfers (excluding pensions) reduced the at-risk-of poverty rate from 40 per cent to 16 per cent, representing a poverty reduction effect of 60 per cent (rising to 68 per cent if pensions are included).

The Deputies will appreciate that it is too early to draw firm conclusions on the extent to which poverty can be reduced over the coming years. However, the Government expects that effective and targeted policies across all Government programmes and Department - coupled with improvement in the underlying economy and labour and boosted by the commitment of the social partners and civil society - will yield future dividends on reaching the national social target for poverty reduction in the years up to 2020.