Nearly one in four Irish people are at risk of poverty, with those living alone and in lone-parent households particularly at risk, a new survey has found.
The new EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), published by the Central Statistics Office, found more than 9 per cent of the population was "consistently poor".
It also finds that those in the top-income groups had almost five times more income than those in the bottom groups.
The Green Party's spokesman on social and family affairs, Mr Dan Boyle
Young people under the age of 15 show a high level of consistent poverty, with some 14.6 per cent described as consistently poor in the survey. The consistent poverty rate for unemployed people was 26.4 per cent compared to just 3.5 per cent for those in employment.
Consistent poverty is calculated using eight different factors such as whether a person is able to afford shoes, new clothing, a warm winter coat and a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day.
Those living in lone-parent households reported the highest deprivation levels for each of the eight basic consistent poverty indicators.
Nearly one-third of this group indicated their household could not afford to buy new clothes. Some 31 per cent experienced debt problems arising from ordinary living expenses.
For those living in households with children, debt problems from ordinary living expenses was the most common of the eight basic deprivation indicators.
This contrasts slightly with those living in households with no children, where those with the highest deprivation levels said either that they had to go without heating at some stage in the past 12 months due to lack of money, or that there was a day in the past two weeks where the family could not afford a substantial meal.
The study, which replaces the old Living in Ireland Survey conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, is based on figures collected between June 2003 and December 2003.