130,000 children in poverty a ‘silent crisis’

If the 130,000 children who live in dire poverty were as visible as patients on hospital trollies, Ireland might wake up to this ‘silent crisis’, says the CEO of Barnardos.

Fergus Finlay says there are enough children living in consistent poverty to fill Croke Park twice over.

In 2014, the Government set a target in its ‘Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures’ to cut child poverty in half by 2020. This would reduce the figures to 70,000. However, the numbers of children living in consistent poverty are expected to reach 130,000 by the end of this month.