GOVT NEEDS TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT EU TARGET OF 25% REDUCTION IN POVERTY
Posted on April 28, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Speaking on Motion on the Adjournment: "The need for the Government to support the EU Commission’s proposal for an EU target to reduce poverty by 25%, at the next European Council Meeting."
2010 is the European Year of Combating Poverty and Social exclusion. The EU Commission is finalising the new European 20:20 strategy for the next decade.
With 79 million people in the EU in poverty or at risk of poverty, including 19 million children, it is essential that the proposed target of a 25% reduction in poverty levels over 10 years be set at the beginning of the new 20:20 strategy. Such a poverty reduction target, with built in strategies for delivery, would lift 20 million people out of poverty and reconnect people to the EU as a body relevant to their needs.
This target would have a very positive effect on the lives of many people here in Ireland. Especially for the some 300,000 people living in consistent poverty as well as the 18% of Irish children living at risk of poverty.
The Government needs to put Ireland to the forefront when it comes to tackling poverty by actively supporting the EU target of a 25% reduction in poverty. This target will not be easily met in Ireland unless the cuts to the budgets of the two statutory agencies dealing with equality - the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority are reversed. These agencies have had their budgets slashed by 24% and 43% respectively.
There needs to be a definite target set by the EU for the future. The target will allow the Government and the Non Governmental Organisations to work together towards a definite goal. .The target will also be important in helping those at risk of slipping into poverty at a time when unemployment is spiralling and more people are becoming dependant on the State for relief.
The decision to abolish the Combat Poverty Agency was another retrograde step. One that I hope the Minister will act to rectify. The Combat Poverty Agency was an independent and objective statutory organisation with a specific and all-encompassing role in the eradication of poverty. In 1975 the Labour Party took the Combat Poverty concept to Europe and convinced the European Economic Community to take it on board. It has continued to inform EU strategy on poverty and social exclusion ever since. In 2000 it became an integral part of the ten year Lisbon strategy, which ended this year.
The European Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion is looking to address some very specific issues relating to poverty in Europe. They are trying to highlight the need to give those at risk a real voice for change, encourage all the Non-Governmental Organisations working across Europe, while trying to remove the stigma of poverty and trying to promote sustainable quality of life, as well as trying to inspire individual citizens to become actively involved in trying to fight poverty. These are key issues in combating poverty and ones that need to be given a lot of thought in the coming months of 2010.
One of the most important elements of the European Year Against Poverty and Social Exclusion is getting Governments to commit to targets for poverty reduction. These aren’t just the obvious and vital commitments to the overall reduction in the numbers living in poverty. They also include commitments to social changes that will help to change mindsets regarding poverty. This is a call to everyone in every part of society both public and private to help combat poverty.
