Irish Examiner view: Let’s make zero poverty our new goal

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has said that “the current inflationary cycle that we are in won’t last forever”. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

We have so many crises in Ireland it is hard to keep track; there is the spiralling cost of mortgages and rent, which affects hundreds of thousands of Irish residents, particularly young people. 

In the 1980s, it took three to four years’ average salary to afford the average home; now it takes multiples of that, so we have a housing crisis.

We have a health service crisis, with huge waiting lists in our hospitals for those who cannot afford private health insurance. 

We now have a cost-of-living crisis, with the price of fuel and other transport costs soaring. Even the cost of food is rising. 

The level of prices here, according to Eurostat, is the joint highest in the EU alongside Denmark for a basket of 2,000 consumer goods and services. Prices here are 40% above the EU average.

This all amounts to one thing: A poverty crisis.

The hundreds of millions promised by the Government in additional supports for those struggling financially is welcome, but it is little more than a short-term measure and will never solve the long-term problem.

The persistence of poverty in Ireland has been notable for decades and has rarely waned in recent times, even during the Celtic Tiger years.

According to Social Justice Ireland, the situation is getting worse. Last month it published figures claiming that, when the cost of housing is included, there are a million people in Ireland at risk of poverty.

Covid-19 has also taken its toll on personal finances. The number of people struggling financially has doubled since before the pandemic, according to a new poll conducted by Red C on behalf of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP).

The poll also reported an increase in the number of people worried about being able to pay rent and afford essentials such as food and heating. 

It indicates that the number of people struggling financially has risen from 9% to 18% since the start of the pandemic. 

Of the 1,036 people surveyed, 37% said they had reduced their essential heating and electricity use, while 17% are cutting back on essentials such as food.

The Government’s aid package is substantial, amounting to more than €400m, which includes €200m already set aside for the €113.50 credit on electricity bills in all homes. 

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has acknowledged that the package of measures and supports announced by the Government will not meet all the needs of struggling families, but he justifies the cautious approach taken by forecasting that “the current inflationary cycle that we are in won’t last forever”.

That could turn out to be the case, but rising prices may last longer than he thinks. 

The European Commission yesterday predicted that Irish inflation this year would amount to 4.6% — far higher than the European average.

We still have far too many households struggling to survive in Ireland. Persistent poverty requires persistent action to end it, and that has to mean a longer-term approach.

We have a target for a zero-carbon economy by 2050. Why not a target for zero poverty?