Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the recent data in the Survey on Income and Living Conditions which shows that 29% of the population is experiencing deprivation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1192/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The CSO published the 2014 release of the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) in November 2015. The key measure of poverty from a policy perspective is consistent poverty - the combination of at-risk-of-poverty and basic deprivation - as this is the basis for the national social target for poverty reduction. The rate of consistent poverty in 2014 was 8%, a slight though not statistically significant decrease on 2013.

This survey found that the 29% of the population were affected by basic deprivation. This is a reduction of 1.5 percentage points on the 2013 rate, which in turn is the first reduction since 2007. A significant finding is that the vast majority of those experiencing basic deprivation are not at-risk-of-poverty, but are in low to middle income households.

As noted, the basic deprivation data relate to 2014, and therefore do not reflect the full impact of the recovery underway in economic growth and employment. The unemployment rate, which was 10.4 in 2014, down from the crisis peak of 15.1% in 2011, has since fallen to less than 9% by the end of 2015. As unemployment is strongly linked to poverty, we can expect to see further decreases in basic deprivation and other poverty indicators.

To reinforce the impact of the recovery on households, Budgets 2015 and 2016 have focused on measures to improve the lives and living standards of every family in the country. For example, in Budget 2016 the Government committed over €200 million to support families with children through higher income supports and increased provision of early childhood care and education and other forms of childcare.

The social impact assessment of these budgets show that average household incomes increased by a cumulative 2.3%. Furthermore, households with children are the biggest beneficiaries of Budget 2016, in particular working lone parents.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the recovery continues and is felt by low and middle income working families.