Planning for Progress and Fairness:ALMOST 750,000 people are living on incomes which are below the poverty line and 30 per cent of all households at risk of poverty are headed by a person with a job - those termed the "working poor" - according to Fr Seán Healy, the director of Cori Justice. PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent reports
Fr Healy said that after a period of "great national prosperity" it was clear that many people had benefited little from the boom times. He was speaking to The Irish Timesyesterday as Cori Justice's annual socio-economic review was published. Titled Planning for Progress and Fairness, the 233-page review is also available online at www.cori.ie/justice.
Fr Healy said: "The failure by Government to address the issue of poverty is a serious indictment of how the resources available throughout the Celtic Tiger years were used."
He added: "720,774 people, or 17 per cent of the total population, have incomes less than the standard poverty line recognised by the European Commission and the United Nations."
That poverty line would currently equate to an annual income of €11,400 for a single person and €26,400 for a household of four, he said.
Fr Healy noted, however, that the number of people with incomes below that level was 120,000 fewer than was the case in 2001, when 21.9 per cent of the population was at risk of poverty.
"This reduction is welcome, but far more needs to be done to ensure every man, woman and child in Ireland has sufficient income to live life with dignity."
Looking at figures for the "working poor", Fr Healy said an analysis of these showed that less than 15 per cent of all households at risk of poverty were headed by a person who was unemployed while almost 30 per cent of all households at risk of poverty were headed by a person with a job.
In the case of children, he had found that "more than 20 per cent of all children in Ireland are at risk of poverty".
He said: "It is time that Irish policymakers took the initiatives required to dramatically reduce the number of people at risk of poverty and developed the services in areas such as education, health and accommodation to ensure that all can live life with dignity."
He called on the Government to ensure that the working poor benefited from the full value of the tax credit to which they were entitled. This would require that tax credits were made refundable.
Fr Healy called for the lowest welfare rate for a single person to be maintained at 30 per cent of gross average industrial earnings and urged that the welfare rate for the second adult in a household be "brought up to 100 per cent of the single adult payment". This currently stands at 67 per cent.
He also called for an increase in child benefit and/or an increase ithe early childhood supplement. This could be done by introducing a refundable tax credit payable for all children, he said.
Poverty trap: facts and figures
720,774
The number of people below relative poverty at the
end of 2006, equating to 17% of the population. The rate is down
from 18.5% in 2005
Risk of poverty by nationality
16.6% Irish national
23.5% Non-Irish national
13.6%
The percentage of older people (65 years+) living in
relative poverty
190,000
The approximate number of children (under 16) at
risk of poverty