Minister urges action over child poverty

Child poverty is a blight on society that must be eliminated, Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan insisted today.

Mr Brennan told a pre-Budget forum meeting of more than 30 voluntary and community groups, which coincided with UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty, that welfare reforms are being urgently advanced.

He said considerable progress has been made on tackling child poverty, which affects one in seven youngsters, removing obstacles to employment for 86,000 lone parents, and on heading off an impending pensions crisis.

“As Minister for Social Affairs I have committed myself to finding solutions by making sensible decisions that have at their core increased support for those who feel most vulnerable, neglected or apprehensive in our society, while at the same time working to bring about reforms that go behind the payments and aggressively strike at the very heart of the social issues that give rise the need for welfare supports in the first place,” he said.

“As I have said many times, our economic progress is not intended to make millionaires, or even billionaires, of the select few while others continue to face a daily struggle.

“That is why I have at all times fought to sustain economic progress so that we can harness it to lift all boats and make a positive and lasting difference to the lives of those people represented here today by the many organisations, and many others.”

Mr Brennan said much progress had been made in a number of key areas of social policy, including:

:: Child Poverty – The identification of targeted proposals to address the issues had been speeded up and proposals are due shortly from the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) to introduce financial supports aimed specifically at helping those children most in need;

:: One Parent Families – Proposals directed at breaking down existing obstacles to employment, increasing access to training opportunities and transforming lives through targeted supports are at an advanced stage;

:: Pensions – A statutory review of pensions policy by the National Pensions Board is due shortly and will form the basis for reforms going forward.

Mr Brennan said he was also in discussions on the need for greater supports for carers, reforms to make the transition from welfare to work less restrictive for jobseekers, and policies to reward the contribution which older people have made to the development of this country.

He said that as a result of a review he ordered of specific adjustments introduced in Budget 2004, most of the measures – which Opposition parties dubbed the Savage 16 cuts – had been reversed, eased considerably or placed under regular review to ensure there was no hardship arising.