Anti-poverty group urges action by next government

Political parties are being urged to prioritise the elimination of poverty in the next government.

It follows the latest ESRI report showing that 7% of the population here are at risk of a high level of social disadvantage.

Those living in rural areas, lone parents, local authority tenants and the sick are among those most likely to suffer from deprivation.

Robin Hanan of the European Anti-Poverty Network said it was a poor showing for one of the wealthiest countries in the EU.

"The formation of a new government is a good time to emphasise again that Ireland needs to start to catch up," he said.

"We need to start to use the money which has been earned in the boom years to try to eliminate the scandal of poverty which marks us out as having one of the poorest records across Europe in terms of using our prosperity to actually deal with poverty."