We will pay the price for inaction

SOME 138,000 extra people could be at risk of falling into poverty in the midst of our unprecedented economic prosperity, according to the Conference of Religious in Ireland.

It has called for Ireland to set a target of reducing the risk of poverty to the EU average rate by 2011.

Such a goal could be a modest target, seeing that we are one of the wealthiest economies in Europe. Should we be content with striving for just average performance? In some ways we are actually deteriorating.

There was an alarming rise in the number of homeless children, which increased by a staggering 27.8% in the most recent figures published by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Although the figures cover a period of affluence, it is the third year in a row that the number of homeless children actually increased. Child support groups are particularly worried by the sharp rise.

Dublin alone accounted for more than the total increase, which suggests that other places are alleviating the problem.

In the western region where services are classified as very good, for instance, the number of homeless children has been declining, but Dublin is falling behind as the number of children being taken into care is increasing at an alarming rate.

The rise in the number of homeless children in Dublin has been attributed largely to the growth in drink and drug abuse among parents and children, as well as mental illness and domestic violence, according to child support groups.

Fr Peter McVerry, who has worked with homeless children for decades, said he was unsure whether the figures represented “a blip, or the start of a trend”.

In a sense, the recent affluence may be a contributory factor, because it has been feeding the drink and drug culture, which is one of the downsides of affluence that leads to real poverty.

The problem of homeless children is not as apparent as the numbers suggest, because homeless children are not necessarily as conspicuous as those sleeping rough. In one area, for instance, only nine out of a total of 125 homeless children were thought to have slept rough.

Others were in short-stay facilities — in foster care, with extended family or friends, or in residential care while longer-term solutions were being sought.

Such places of residence are not homes in the conventional sense.

A society rearing children in such circumstances is obviously incubating problems for the future. It is with that future in mind that we should face up to those problems now.

Bernardos has called for social services in the city centre to facilitate children in difficulty on a round-the-clock basis. Not providing such facilities now due to the cost is a false economy, because the current inaction will eventually cost so much more in both human and monetary terms.