Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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85. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is concerned about the impact of the rising cost of living on child poverty; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59276/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 87 together.

As Minister of State with responsibility for social inclusion, I have a strong interest in addressing all forms of poverty and addressing child poverty is a Government priority.The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 notes that no child in Ireland should live in poverty and that, where it happens due to adverse circumstances, available supports should ensure that the child and their family exit poverty as soon as is possible. Tackling child poverty requires both income supports and a cross Government focus to ensure access to affordable services, particularly to basic essential services such as housing, health and education, in addressing poverty and social exclusion.

The current national child poverty target requires a 66 per cent reduction in the number of children in consistent poverty by the end of 2020 (from its 2011 level of 107,000). Against the 2011 baseline, the number of children in consistent poverty has fallen by 45,000 (from 107,000 in 2011 to 62,000 in 2021) and the consistent poverty rate has fallen by 4.1 percentage points (from 9.3 per cent in 2011 to 5.2 per cent in 2021).

The Government is well aware that many families are struggling to make ends meet due to the increase in the cost of living. This is why under Budget 2023 we introduced the largest Social Protection Budget Day Package in the history of the State.

In order to ease the pressure and stress that many families are facing, we have brought forward a series of exceptional lump sum payments to support people with the rising costs they are facing over winter, including a double child benefit payment this month and a €500 payment for those in receipt of Working Family Payment. Recent post-budget analysis from the ESRI found that these one-off cost of living measures would substantially cushion real incomes against the rising cost of living.

This is in addition to Social Protection Budgets over the past number of years that have prioritised the introduction of measures identified in research commissioned by my Department which have had and will continue to have a direct and positive impact on poverty, and in particular on child poverty:

- Increases in weekly child-related payments (qualified child increases);

- Increases in the Working Family Payment thresholds aimed at supporting working families and ensuring that work pays;

- Improvements to means-testing of payments for lone parents;

- Increases in the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance;

- Increases in the weekly rates of payment for all schemes;

- Introduction and expansion of hot school meals, in line with the Programme for Government commitment to ensure no child goes hungry;

- Increases in the earnings disregard for lone parents in receipt of One Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker Transition payments.

The Government remains committed to the reduction of poverty, in particular for children, as set out in the Programme for Government.