Poverty agency should not lose its key role

COMMUNITY Action Network (CAN) regrets there was no opportunity within the recent review of the Combat Poverty Agency for stakeholders to put on record the importance of the role it plays in tackling poverty in Ireland.

We feel the agency creates links between the lived experience of poverty and national policy. It supports the meaningful participation of communities experiencing poverty in policy areas in innovative and practical ways.

It also provides local communities and Government alike with an authoritative and independent analysis of poverty. Its independent research generates understanding of the structural nature of poverty, often experienced by individuals in isolation.

We were dismayed to read of the proposal to incorporate the Combat Poverty Agency into the Department of Social and Family Affairs where it will lose its independence and critical voice.

If changes are to be made, we would strongly urge that it be amalgamated with the National Economic and Social Development Office. Here, at least, it could continue to play a key role in serving communities for whom poverty is a growing issue.

Maura White

Director

Community Action Network

24 Gardiner Place

Dublin 1