I am sure few readers were surprised to learn in The Irish Times (August 25th) that a study had confirmed the widening gap between the poor and the better off. The findings of the study had been issued by the National Economic and Social Forum the previous day.
The analysis and comment in The Irish Times, including the editorial, gave wide coverage to the poverty gap. However, contributors failed to make reference to the savage attack our social partners made on the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) when negotiating the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF).
The very principles (see page 7 of NAPS) which underpin this 10-year strategy were dumped by the social partners in the PPF (see pages 78/79 of the PPF).
The entire concept and key objective of "encouraging self-reliance through respecting individual dignity and promoting empowerment" (an underpinning principle) is no longer an integral part of the social partnership process.
What a travesty and, in particular, what an abysmal failure by the community pillar of the PPF to deliver a fundamental human right on behalf of the citizens it represents.
As a result of this debacle, it is now a matter of urgency for a "champion of the poor" to come forward. In this regard, perhaps one of the following organisations might consider taking the issue to Strasbourg: the Wheel, the Irish League of Credit Unions, or the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference (see Prosperity with a Purpose, its pastoral letter of November 1999).
NAPS identified unemployment as the single biggest contributor to poverty. The obvious strategy the community pillar should have pursued was that of full employment (that is, any citizen who wants a job can have one by 2003).
If it had done so, a national jobs plan would have had to be developed. This, in my view, would have been the catalyst for bringing all the social partners into strategic alignment. A plan of this nature would have brought so much hope to the thousands of our citizens who see no way out of the poverty trap.
IN 1978, the then Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, stated that his government did not deserve to be re-elected if it allowed unemployment to rise to 100,000.
That was a good standard in 1978 and, in my view, it should continue to be the norm for politicians to use and work with in these days of the Celtic Tiger. Instead of this, percentages are regularly trotted out with little empathy for the sheer deprivation that exists behind the statistics.
In 1993, Prof Kieran Kennedy, director of the Economic and Social Research Institute, stated in the institute's publication on unemployment that "no problem can be solved unless it is confronted by those with the power to do something about it. The brunt of unemployment is borne by those with little power, while those with power have for long been unwilling to confront the problem".
In the meantime, little has changed as regards power-sharing, especially where it has the most prospect of making a fundamental impact. The community pillar must assert its full role as a stakeholder in the social partnership process.
In April 1999, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, announced a plan to spend £20 million on the Fastrack to Information Technology (FIT) programme, which involves training the unemployed to fill positions in the information technology sector. Mr Ahern claimed that 3,500 long-term unemployed people in Dublin would get "well-paid jobs" as a result of this initiative.
The Taoiseach called on information technology companies throughout the State to join in and expand the initiative. This project speaks volumes about what can be done: the movement of the unemployed into well-paid jobs is an example of what the State needs, not only in Dublin, but throughout the provinces.
There is recognition that the welfare state neither alleviates poverty nor promotes the independence that is needed. "Leadership that excites, energises, motivates and liberates others is the essence of empowerment" (Vogt and Murrell, 1990).
The role of the Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion, and the very purpose of the National Economic and Social Forum, must now be called into question as a result of the social partners' tinkering with the NAPS.
I believe this little country of ours has an outstanding future in which we can all share - but this will only be achieved with open systems.
Denis O'Brien is president of St Vincent de Paul, parish of St John the Apostle, Knocknacarra, Galway.