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.