Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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1352.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the long-term strategies that are being developed at this point to address the root causes of poverty and deprivation in north inner-city Dublin. [32707/24]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The North East Inner City (NEIC) Programme aims to make the North East Inner City a safe, attractive and vibrant living and working environment for the community and its families with opportunities for all to lead full lives. The Department of the Taoiseach has oversight of the NEIC Programme. The NEIC Initiative commenced in July 2016, when the Government launched a major initiative to oversee the long-term social and economic regeneration of Dublin’s North East Inner City.

The Department of Social Protection promotes the active participation and inclusion in society through the provision of income supports, employment services and other services. At national level, the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 is a whole-of-government strategy with a five-year timeframe which aims to reduce consistent poverty to 2% or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU.

Significant progress has been made to reduce poverty and improve social inclusion during the lifetime of the Roadmap. According to the latest CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2023 release, the consistent poverty rate for the overall population is now 3.6%. This is the lowest rate of consistent poverty recorded since the start of the SILC survey and puts Government on track to meeting the ambitious target set out in the Roadmap for Social Inclusion of 2%. The consistent poverty rate for children has also decreased from 7% in SILC 2022 to 4.8% in SILC 2023.

While the Roadmap does not have area specific geographical strategies, there are a number of Government initiatives targeted specifically at the North Inner City, particularly the North East Inner City Initiative, which commenced in July 2016, and which is under the remit of the Department of the Taoiseach.

The Mulvey Report, under the leadership of Kieran Mulvey, ‘Creating a Brighter Future’ in Dublin’s North East Inner City, was published in February 2017 with recommendations across several priority areas, as well as system of implementation structures to support the process. This report led to the establishment of the North East Inner City Programme Implementation Board chaired by an Independent Chairperson.