Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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113. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the actions she will take to tackle the increase in poverty as outlined by Social Justice Ireland; if she will provide the number of persons currently below the poverty line; the percentage of the population this represents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41710/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Social Inclusion Monitor, the official report on progress on poverty using national and EU indicators, reports that the rate of consistent poverty in 2012 was 7.7 per cent, equivalent to 353,000 people. The average rate of consistent poverty since the economic crisis was 6.6 per cent (years 2009-2012), as compared with an average rate of 5.7 per cent in the years preceding the crisis (2005-2008). The at-risk-of-poverty rate, one component of consistent poverty, was 16.5 per cent 2012. The average rate since the crisis is 15.3 per cent, as compared with an average of 16.6 per cent in the years preceding the crisis.

The national social target for poverty reduction is to reduce consistent poverty to 4 per cent in 2016 and to 2 per cent or lower by 2020. The target is to be achieved through implementation of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion. A key component of Government policy to tackle poverty is to provide adequate income support through the social protection system. In 2012, welfare payments and other social transfers (excluding pensions) reduced the at-risk-of poverty rate from 39 per cent to 16.5 per cent, a poverty reduction effect of 57.7 per cent. If pensions are included, the poverty reduction effect is even greater at 67.2 per cent.

This reflects the substantial State investment in the social protection system, despite the constraints of the economic crisis. A key element of this investment has been the maintenance of core weekly rates of welfare payments since this Government came into office. Budget 2015 provided for additional investment of €198 m in targeted welfare increases and other initiatives, with a further €63.5 million to restore the Christmas Bonus.

Another key intervention in tackling poverty is to reduce unemployment and provide the supports needed through activation to get people back to work. Through Pathways to Work and the Action Plan on Jobs, the Government is putting people into real jobs, while the family income supplement and new back to work family dividend support parents to take up and remain in employment , especially those furthest from the labour market.