Child poverty is a national scandal

AFTER 10 years of unprecedented prosperity, it is difficult to believe the scale of the problems of child poverty and homelessness which continue to exist unchallenged in our society.

According to EU and Government research, 65,000 Irish children live in consistent poverty and it is estimated there are approximately 1,400 children who are homeless with their families.

In a modern democratic society, it is a scandal that these children are being denied an acceptable standard of living and the opportunity to reach their full potential. Inequality on such a scale poses questions about rights, justice and the true meaning of citizenship in our society.

The Government’s failure to share the fruits of our economic success more equally has taken a heavy toll on those who have been left behind.

While improved income supports are an important means to help the economic situation of families, they are not the only answer.

As a society we must place special emphasis on equality of access to early childhood care and preschool education. These crucial areas, which hold so much potential for the intellectual and social development of children, have been starved of funding in recent years.

Poverty affects not only the health status of children, but their access to healthcare. Children reliant on the public health system experience much longer delays in accessing care than those covered by private health insurance. We need universal health insurance for our young people as a basic right — a proposal which has been adopted recently by Fine Gael and Labour.

Similarly, the answers to youth homelessness are not as clear-cut as the Government would seem to think. Despite repeated pleas from those who work in the homeless sector, there has been no serious attempt to provide ‘move on’ accommodation which would prevent highly vulnerable people from becoming homeless by providing them with a semi-independent environment in which to live and overcome their problems.

As a rich, developed country, we can no longer accept a situation where we are among the most unequal societies in Europe, particularly when it affects our children.

If we are to be true to our republican values, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, it must be a priority of Government to ensure the basic human rights of all our children.

Our future wellbeing as a society depends on it.

Senator Paul Bradford

Chairman

Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Human Rights

Seanad Éireann

Dublin 2