Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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71. To ask the Taoiseach regarding the Child Poverty and Well-Being Programme Office, the cross-Departmental actions that have been initiated to coordinate responses on income supports, housing, childcare access and educational disadvantage, in order to reduce housing-cost-adjusted child poverty rates; and if he will provide details of progress to date. [48419/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office was established in the Department of the Taoiseach in Spring 2023 to prioritise action across government in areas that will have the greatest impact for children and families experiencing poverty. The Programme Office was retained in the Programme for Government to continue the work to break down silos between departments and drive delivery.

Published in August 2023, the Programme Office’s initial Programme Plan, From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Poverty and Well-being 2023-2025, builds on six focus areas which have the potential to bring about significant change for families and children.

These focus areas are:

• Income assistance and joblessness;

• Early learning and childcare;

• Reducing the cost of education;

• Family homelessness;

• Consolidating and integrating family and parental assistance, health and well-being;

• Enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty.

The Programme Plan is designed to be a living and dynamic document. As is needed, the Programme Office revisits these priorities to ensure a focus on those things that will really make a difference.

The Programme Office’s first Progress Report, Child Poverty and Well-being in Transition: Learning and Adapting to Accelerate Change in Children’s Lives was published in February of this year. Progress updates for the six focus areas were presented, challenges were acknowledged, and emerging lessons and priorities were highlighted. The impact of the Programme Office was also outlined and highlighted that the Programme Office has strengthened the cross-government focus on addressing child poverty. A copy of the report can be found on gov.ie: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/publications/progress-report/

To help facilitate the Department of the Taoiseach’s role in co-ordinating and focusing government action, the Office established a Cross-Government Network on Child Poverty and Well-being. The Network has met six times to date, with the most recent meeting taking place on the 13th of May.

An important strategic initiative of the Programme Office is the cross-government focus on child poverty and well-being in the annual Budget. In advance of Budgets 2024 and 2025, the Programme Office engaged with all relevant Departments to discuss their spending plans in relation to child poverty and well-being and published reports following each of those Budgets. For Budget 2026, the Programme Office is continuing this process of engagement across Government.

The Programme Office has also worked closely with the Department of Social Protection on the ambitious child poverty target which was published last week. Given the multi-faceted nature of child poverty, a Dashboard of Indicators will be used alongside the new Child Poverty Target. This Dashboard is being collated by the Child Poverty and Well-Being Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach. It allows for a more holistic view of child poverty and supports interpretation of the overall child poverty target, while tracking progress on key metrics, including those relating to housing.

The second Child Poverty and Well-being Summit which took place last week, on September 11th created an important platform to take stock and will feed into the development of the second Programme Plan. Careful consideration will be given to what has been learned so far and what remains to be done.

The Government is ready to take targeted, decisive, and informed action to accelerate real, lasting progress to ensure that the most disadvantaged children and families are prioritised in new spending.