THE CHALLENGE of coping with a recession without the “safety valve of emigration” has been highlighted by the Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs.
A new publication, In the Wake of the Celtic Tiger: Poverty in Contemporary Ireland, which was developed in collaboration with the Society of St Vincent de Paul, was launched by the commission yesterday.
Prof John Monaghan, the society’s national vice-president, said the traditional option for Irish people of seeking work in countries such as the UK, Australia and Canada had become less feasible in a global economic downturn.
Prof Monaghan said sections of the Irish media had been “sneering at the idea that poverty even existed” for years.
However, he had visited many houses where families were “living on Cornflakes” at the end of the week.
He also focused on the plight of the “coping poor” who “pay for everything and qualify for nothing”.
The justice commission’s document calls on the Government to increase school capitation grants to eliminate the need for parental contributions, “thereby providing equal education opportunities to all children”.
It says the incomes of those who become unemployed must be protected, and social welfare payments must be accessible without delay.
The threshold for medical card eligibility should be reviewed and a “cost of disability” payment should be introduced. The commission is also calling for a strategy to prevent fuel poverty.
It says social housing should be allocated in a way that promotes socioeconomic and ethnic diversity to prevent “ghettoisation”.
The transport infrastructure and service provision in rural communities should be re-examined to combat a growing sense of isolation.
Affordable childcare facilities should be provided to alleviate the burden on families experiencing poverty, despite the fact that both parents may be employed.
Commission chairman Bishop Raymond Field said the organisation was mindful that its new document was being published against a backdrop of growing economic uncertainty.“While we acknowledge the many pressures on Government . . . the needs of the most vulnerable must not be ignored.”
