Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) is the official source of poverty statistics for Ireland. The most recent survey results in relation to the 2022 survey were published by the CSO on 22 February 2023. Due to the sample sizes involved, poverty data is only available at regional level. However, child poverty data at regional level is not readily available on the CSO website. The issue of producing poverty statistics is a matter for the CSO.

The latest CSO data shows that the consistent poverty rate for children has increased from 5.2% in 2021 to 7.5% in 2022, similar to the rate in 2020 (7.2%). While it is disappointing to see a break in the downward trend in the consistent poverty rate for children, it is important to note that the SILC 2022 data relates to income in the calendar year 2021 and as such does not take account of the significant package of measures introduced under Budget 2022 or Budget 2023 and the range of cost of living measures since 2021, which includes:

- A €17 increase in weekly rates of payments.

- Increases to Qualified Child Payments, bringing rates to €50 per week for children aged 12 and over, and €42 for children under the age of 12.

- Increases in the Working Family Payment thresholds in Budgets 2022 and 2023, as well as a €500 cost of living lump sum payment to all recipients last November.

- once-off €100 lump sum payment in respect of every child for whom Child Benefit is paid, bringing the value of this support to €240 per child for the month of June.

- once-off additional €100 payment this year in respect of each child for whom the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is paid.

- Extension of the Hot School Meals programme to all DEIS primary schools and special schools from this month, benefiting 64,500 children.

Delivery of these supports reflects the Government’s continuing commitment to supporting Irish families, particularly those most in need. In order to drive action in this area the Government established a new Child Poverty and Wellbeing unit in the Department of the Taoiseach earlier this year. In addition, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is leading on the development of Young Ireland: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023 – 2028, a whole of Government initiative that will serve as a successor framework to Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. The Department of Social Protection will also hold a public consultation on the development of a new national Child Poverty target before the end of the year.

The Government will continue to use the SILC data to inform policy and budgetary measures as it has done before in increasing qualified child, lone parent, working family, living alone and fuel allowance payments, targeted at people most at risk of poverty. In addition a revised HP deprivation index, generated by POBAL, will be published in the near future. The updated HP Deprivation Index, when available, will be considered by my Department to help inform future measures to address child poverty.