Speech by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to the Seanad on Thursday 28 September 2023

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Go raibh maith agat, Cathaoirleach. Maidin mhaith. A Cathaoirleach, A Sheanadóiri, táim an-sásta labhairt libh inniu agus an t-eolas is déanaí a thabhairt daoibh ar roinnt obair an Rialtas. Déanfaidh mé mionsonrú freisin ar ár gcuid oibre chun tosaíocht a thabhairt do bhochtaineacht agus folláine leanaí.

A Cathaoirleach, this government is now more than three years in office. This term hasn’t been defined solely by the pandemic, as many thought it would be, it has been dealing with a range of unforeseen issues, including the outbreak of war in Europe, an influx of refugees and asylum seekers, and a protracted inflation and cost of living crisis.

The devastating effect of climate change is contributing to some of these issues, and we are the generation that must turn the tide. We have the high-level goals, laws, targets and the plans – now we must translate them into meaningful actions on the ground.

Sláintecare is already transforming our health service and is backed by unprecedented levels of investment in our health and social care.

Sláintecare, which is happening with the support and oversight of the Department of the Taoiseach, is about four main things:

• making healthcare more affordable, and
• more accessible for our people
• ensuring better outcomes for patients, and
• reforming our health service

Patient outcomes are extremely good in Ireland. We have among the highest life expectancy in the European Union. While there are deficiencies in our health service, which we should never be afraid to talk about, we should also talk about the incredible successes for patients. Major improvements in survival from stroke and cancer, for example.

Recent years have seen massive increases in health funding, rising to €24 billion in 2023. We are hiring more staff, with more than 20,000 hired since the start of 2020.

This is needed because we have a growing population, an ageing population. But it is fair to say that these kinds of increases aren’t always going to be possible. That’s why reform is so important - that we don’t just do more, we also do things better and do things differently.

The third and fourth aspects of Sláintecare are of course affordability and access, meaning that patients can receive healthcare either free of cost or at a cost they can afford.

We have made a lot of improvements in that area in recent years - reducing the cost of medicines and extending free GP care to many more people. We have introduced free contraception, abolished hospital charges both for children and for adults and from this week state-funded IVF for the first time.

The housing crisis is affecting people in many ways from high rents, to homelessness, to all those people who we know are struggling to buy their first home.

Progress is being made.

More first-time buyers are purchasing their first home every week, the highest numbers we have seen since the Celtic Tiger period.

More families own their own home than ever before, at least in raw numbers, 1.2m and more than ten years ago.

We are building more social housing than any year since 1975.

Almost 30,000 homes were completed in 2022 – a 45% increase on 2021, the best year in over a decade and in excess of our Housing for All target of 24,600.

We are providing grants to help people renovate old buildings breathing new life into them, thus creating more vibrant towns, villages and rural areas throughout the country.

We know this progress is not enough for many, particularly for those who are experiencing homelessness, but we are doing all we can to speed up implementation of Housing for All. We are ensuring the initiatives we have committed to are implemented – quickly and effectively.

After years of progress - rising incomes in real terms, falling inequality and reductions in poverty and deprivation - last year poverty rates increased for the first time in a long time due to inflation.

Now that inflation is easing, our objective is to restore the power of people’s incomes and push poverty rates back down in the right direction.

Like last year, the next Budget will put money in people’s pockets and ensure it goes further. As you know, some people argue that we must choose between saving or spending the surplus, increasing public spending or decreasing taxes.

The truth is, you can do all these things if you have a growing economy – the real choice is the quantum and the split.

We must never take for granted our economic success and assume that full employment, record levels of trade and investment and budgets in surplus will persist - no matter what economic policies we pursue.

Wealth and jobs have to be generated, and it requires the protection of an economic model that has served us well. A change of economic policy, trade, tax on Eurapean policy would almost certainly be change for the worse for our country.

Budget 2023 was a ‘Cost of Living Budget’

Recent research by the UNICEF examined the effect of food and energy inflation on child poverty in the European Union. Interestingly, in comparison to many of our European neighbours Ireland’s government interventions, proved very effective in protecting children from poverty.

In Budget 2024, we will help households again.

But we know that for some poverty and exclusion continue to undermine their potential to benefit from the success of our economy. That is why I announced in December that a child poverty and child well-being office would be established.

We want Ireland to be the best country in Europe to be a child. Ending child poverty is central to this ambition.

This is important not only because we want every child to be happy and well-cared for, but also because happy childhoods are the foundation for realising broader economic, environmental, and social goals.

We know from research by the ESRI and others, that experience of poverty during childhood is associated with poorer outcomes across a range of dimensions, including educational attainment, life satisfaction, and chronic illness.

It is important to put on the record that over the past decade Ireland has made significant progress in reducing child poverty and promoting child well-being. Our income measures, public services and community infrastructure all play an important role in protecting children from poverty and promoting child well-being.

The number of children experiencing consistent poverty has reduced from 11.7 per cent in 2013 to a low of 5.2 per cent in 2021. Although there was an uptick last year, it still means that there are now 48,000 fewer children living in consistent poverty compared to 2013 not withstanding a rising population. We need to protect and build on these gains.

Recent initiatives including free schoolbooks for primary schools, free GP care for all children under 8, the extension of hot school meals, as well as significant investment in Early Learning and Childcare are helping to protect children and families from poverty. These are practical actions that are making a difference every day.

We will accelerate this progress overseen by the newly established Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach.

In August, the Office published its work programme for the next two and a half years From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Poverty and Well-being 2023-2025.

The initial Programme for the Office focuses on six areas that will have the greatest effect on the lives of children experiencing poverty.

These six areas are:

1) Income and joblessness

2) Early learning and childcare

3) Reducing the cost of education

4) Family homelessness

5) Consolidating and integrating family and parental support, health and well-being

6) Enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty

It must be said that these are not the only areas that are important, but by focusing on them we can make the ‘difference that makes a difference’.

There may be other issues that the Programme Office will need to focus on in the future - we can adapt and evolve the Plan as the work develops.

The Programme Office is accountable to, and will report to, the Cabinet Committee on Children and Education. It will work closely with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Inclusion and Youth to contribute to the work and structures of the new National Framework for Children and Young People.

The Office will ensure that children are aware of and feed directly into cross-government action on child poverty and well-being, by publishing child friendly versions of reports and using established child participation structures.

The Budget is a critical moment in which Government articulates its ambition for the coming year. I want to make sure that child poverty and well-being is a strong theme. I am working with my Cabinet colleagues to establish what can be achieved in Budget 2024.

I have asked Minister Humphreys to examine the ESRI proposal to introduce a means-tested second-tier of child benefit. Such a change would not be possible to introduce by January 2024. Further work will have to be undertaken to ensure no unintended consequences, as identified by the ESRI itself. But the proposal has real merit, and I look forward to understanding more about how it could be implemented.

While the specifics of many other issues are still to be decided, on Budget Day it will be evident that government departments are working towards the shared goal of reducing child poverty and enhancing child well-being.

Baineann bochtaineacht leanaí ón óige agus goideann sé a dtodhchaí uathu. Tá plean trasrialtais againn anois chun é sin a athrú.

Tá mé muiníneach go dtabharfaidh an plean seo i bhfad níos gaire muid d’Éirinn a bheith ar an tír is fearr san Eoraip le bheith i do leanbh.

I look forward to your comments and questions.