The Government should set itself a target to eliminate poverty within three to five years, according to Father Sean Healy, of the Justice Commission of the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI).
He said CORI welcomed the forum's opinion and acknowledged that the National Antipoverty Strategy (NAPS) process had given a higher priority to poverty in the national policy development process.
"However, we are very disappointed with the actual impact of NAPS. The number of people living in poverty is totally unacceptable. Given the resources currently available to the Government in the Celtic Tiger economy, there are more than adequate resources available to eliminate poverty completely.
"Consequently, we strongly support the forum's recommendation that NAPS targets should be more ambitious, more challenging and more specific."
He said the Government should set itself the target of the total elimination of poverty within a three to five-year time frame. "Secondly, there should be poverty-proofing for all Government initiatives, particularly in the annual budget."
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU), commenting on the report, said it proved that despite the economic boom, thousands of families were living in poverty. Ms Noeleen Hartigan, press officer, said the NESF looked for more ambitious and measurable targets. The targets set by the Government for unemployment had been met. Yet there was still a further widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.
"The NESF report says the Government must consider targets for relative income poverty. Relative income poverty is a measure of whether or not a person's income is adequate. One in five people in Ireland are living on less than half the average income; that is a damning indictment of the Government's record on tackling poverty."