The Government has been strongly urged by the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) to address the issue of poverty and give priority in the next Budget to increasing social welfare rates.
A number of measures aimed at reducing the gap between rich and poor are put forward in a CORI Justice Commission briefing document published today. It says Ireland spent a lower percentage of its GDP on social protection than any other country in the EU and was ranked 17th on a UN poverty index of industrialised countries.
"The persistence of poverty and the widening of the rich-poor gap in the land of the Celtic Tiger are major indictments of Irish society and should be addressed immediately by the Government," the document states.
It stresses that no anti-poverty strategy could succeed without addressing the lack of income. "Consequently, the CORI Justice Commission strongly urges the Government to give priority in its forthcoming Budget to increasing social welfare rates for both adults and children," the document said.
This would be the best way to ensure the Budget addressed the issue of income poverty and did not widen the rich-poor gap.
"Social welfare recipients are currently worse off in real terms than they were a year ago because of inflation," the report points out. It proposes that to make up for the loss and to meet the commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to improve real living standards, social welfare should be increased in the 2001 Budget by £14 a week for a single person and £24 a week for a couple. Child benefit should also be substantially increased.
The CORI acknowledged that the number of people living in what the Government called "consistent poverty" had been declining but criticised this measurement of poverty as "insulting to poor people and to Irish society generally".
To be included in this category, a person had to be without a warm overcoat or a second pair of shoes, go without heat or not have a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day.
"This measurement is Dickensian in nature and was chosen arbitrarily by Government as the basis for setting its income targets in the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS). No self-respecting analyst, politician or commentator would use this term to explain away poverty," the CORI said.
It recommends an additional target be included within the NAPS to reach the 50 per cent relative income poverty figure and bring Ireland into line with the rest of the EU.
The number of people with less than the equivalent of £92 a week for one adult must be substantially reduced. This would not happen unless a NAPS target focused on this issue was put in place, the document states. The commission also argues for the introduction of a basic income system.