While there has been some reduction in the depth and intensity of poverty over the last 10 years, there has been only a 1 per cent fall in the numbers who are consistently poor, according to the annual report of the Combat Poverty Agency. The report for 1996, published yesterday, says "the contrast between conspicuous wealth and the plight of those on the margins of society is growing stronger".
Presenting the report to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, Ms Anna Lee, chairperson of the agency, welcomed the Government's commitment to establish a Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion.
She said the sub-committee would bring the critical question of how society ensured that everyone benefited from the current economic boom right to the heart of government.
The report says the figures showing high levels of poverty and social exclusion reflected the harsh reality on the ground.
People living in poverty and local community and voluntary groups felt a sense of being excluded from the growing prosperity, of being left behind and marginalised by society.
Over the past 10 years, there had actually been an increase in the numbers falling into income poverty. The risk of poverty for children had increased, a very worrying trend in the long term.
Based on 1994 data, there was a 29 per cent poverty risk for children at half-average income, compared to an 18 per cent risk for adults.
The report says that while record job creation had led to some reduction in unemployment, long-term unemployment was still very high and was projected to remain so.
The agency criticises documents by Partnership 2000 and the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS). "Indeed, the process of preparing both documents highlighted that apathy and institutional resistance are standing in the way of making the necessary investment to eliminate poverty and social exclusion." However, the agency says that, in spite of its reservations, it believes the anti-poverty strategy document is a critical landmark in the development of economic and social policy.
"If it is implemented with real energy and commitment over the next decade, it has the potential to contribute to a radical transformation of Irish society."
Ireland was experiencing exceptional rates of growth and projections for the future were very positive. It had very favourable demographic projections, with forecasts of a decline in dependency ratios and an increasing labour force. All this would increase the level of resources available to invest in addressing the underlying causes of poverty and social exclusion.
"The alternative scenario is that these increased resources will be spent on tax cuts that give a disproportionate advantage to the better off, which would ensure that they become still better off and that the divide in Irish society widens," says the report.