148,000 children live in poverty

THE amount of children living in consistent poverty would fill Croke Park almost twice over, according to a new report.

Nearly 150,000 children are being brought up in households which don’t have enough money to meet basic needs such as adequate food, clothing and heat. The Combat Poverty Agency (CPA) said these 148,000 children make up 15% of the nation’s children. “Many of these children are in lone parent households, in families where the head of household is ill or disabled or in larger families,” said the CPA’s 2004 annual report.

The CPA said, when income alone is considered, almost a quarter of children (242,000) are in households living below the poverty line of €192 per week.

This was one of the worst records in the European Union, said the report.

CPA director Helen Johnston, said: “Even though Ireland has experienced extraordinary levels of economic growth, we still have almost a quarter of our children living in relatively poor homes, many of whom are denied the basic essentials required for modern living.” She said a modern society such as Ireland should not tolerate child poverty.

She said the economic advances enjoyed by Ireland had led to higher profits and substantially increased employment. “But, as income levels and standards of living have risen, some people have not been able to benefit to the same extent and fall below what most people would consider an acceptable standard of living.”

The CPA, the sole national advisory committee on poverty, is calling on the Government to:

Raise child benefit to €149.90 a month for first and second children and to €185.40 for third and subsequent children.

Increase child dependant allowances.

Substantially improve early childhood education and provide pre-school education to all three- and four-year-olds from low income families.

Launching the annual report, Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan said his Department was spending more than €12.2 billion on welfare entitlements and support this year.