Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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74. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to tackle child poverty. [36032/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2014 shows that 11.2 per cent of children were in consistent poverty, a slight decrease on the 2013 rate of 11.7 per cent. The full impact of the recovery is not yet reflected in these figures. Ireland has returned to strong economic and employment growth.

The monthly unemployment rate in October 2016 announced by the CSO was 7.7%, down from a peak of 15% in 2012. As unemployment is strongly linked to poverty, we can expect further decreases in poverty as the figures for 2015 and 2016 become available. The Government continues to focus on activation, to help people back into the workforce.

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: the national policy framework for children and young people, published by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in 2014, includes a target to reduce child poverty by two-thirds by 2020. Meeting this target means lifting 97,000 children out of poverty. Under this Framework, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in collaboration with my Department and other relevant Departments is taking a whole-of-government approach to tackling child poverty.

Social transfers play a crucial role in alleviating poverty and inequality. In 2014, social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate in Ireland from 37.2% to 15.6%, thereby lifting over a fifth of the population out of income poverty. Ireland is among the best performing EU Member States in this regard. Budget 2017 increased the weekly rates of payment for working age schemes and also raised the income disregard for one-parent family payment and jobseeker’s transition payment recipients. These measures will help to tackle child poverty.

Continued economic recovery, together with Government action to sustain and develop the social welfare system, will support further reductions in poverty over the coming years.

However, reducing child poverty is not just about income supports and welfare. Rather it is also about supporting parents to make the transition into employment and assisting families through the provision of quality services in areas such as childcare, education and health.

That is why one of the most important measures contained in Budget 2017 for tackling child poverty was the announcement that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will implement next year the new Single Affordable Childcare Scheme. This scheme is a step change in State support for childcare in Ireland. It is an important scheme as it will significantly reduce the cost of childcare for low income parents and will provide further substantial support for families to lift themselves out of poverty by taking up employment.