Minister Joe O’Brien Chairs First Meeting of Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group

Addressing the first meeting (virtual) of the Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group this morning, Joe O’Brien, T.D., Minister of State (and Chair of the Group) with responsibility for Social Inclusion, Community Development and Charities, outlined the Government’s commitment to tackle social inclusion:

The Steering Group comprises representatives from a number of Government Departments who have a responsibility for the delivery of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, 2020: Ambition, Goals and Commitments, along with three external members from the Community and Voluntary Sector - Sr Bernadette McMahon from the Vincentian Partnership for Justice; Dr. Patricia Keilthy from the Society of St Vincent de Paul; and Paul Ginnell, from the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland.

Minister O’Brien outlined the main aims of the Steering Group, which are:

• to reduce the number of people in consistent poverty in Ireland to 2% or less,
• to increase social inclusion for people who are most disadvantaged, and
• to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU.

Referring to the recently published poverty data from the 2019 CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions, Minister O’Brien spoke of the need for a concerted effort across Government to achieve significant reductions in poverty rates and to increase peoples’ access to resources and services. He acknowledged the scale of the challenge, stating that

and said that he is looking forward to working with the Steering Group in addressing the many areas of poverty currently experienced by many people and children in Ireland at this time.

ENDS

Since 1997 Ireland has put in place successive national strategies focusing on the reduction of poverty and social exclusion in Irish society. These plans have been cross-governmental with actions chosen for their potential to bring about improved outcomes for people living in poverty and/or experiencing social exclusion. In each successive plan, the focus has been on the reduction of the number of people in consistent poverty – that is with an income below 60% of the national median income and experiencing material deprivation, according to the national poverty measures.

Following the conclusion of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2017, the Department developed the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025, which was approved by the then Government on 9 January 2020 and published on 14 January 2020. It is a whole-of-government strategy with a five year timeframe and a review in 2022. This will facilitate an evaluation of the impact of the Roadmap commitments.

The Roadmap will build on the work of its predecessors with the aim of reducing the number of people in consistent poverty in Ireland and increasing social inclusion for those who are most disadvantaged. This is reflected in its ambition to “Reduce consistent poverty to 2% or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU”. The Roadmap translates this ambition into seven Goals underpinned by 66 unique Commitments (actions) that will be taken to help deliver these goals. These unique commitments have been developed with relevant Departments and agencies to reflect current or planned sectoral strategies and plans.

The Roadmap included a commitment to establish a Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group to manage and oversee the successful implementation of the Roadmap commitments. This group is comprised of senior representatives of responsible Departments at Assistant Secretary/ Principal Officer Level, and also includes three external members - Sr Bernadette McMahon from the Vincentian Partnership for Justice; Dr. Patricia Keilthy from the Society of St Vincent de Paul; and Paul Ginnell, from the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland.