ELIMINATING POVERTY – CAN WE AFFORD NOT TO?

Speaking at the launch, EAPN’s Director Paul Ginnell said, ‘It is a shocking inditement of our society that against the backdrop of four years of record-breaking tax receipts, and a doubling of the tax take over the past decade, that hundreds of thousands of
lives continue to be scarred by poverty and marginalisation, often intergenerationally, with some groups disproportionately affected. In fact, far from achieving the target of reducing the numbers experiencing consistent poverty to 2%
or less, the level remains at 5%, the same as it was at the commencement of the strategy. We are not targeting the structural reasons why some groups are more likely to experience poverty. This has to change’

EAPN’s Policy & Communications Officer, Clare Daly said, ‘Eliminating poverty is a political choice, the resources are there, all that is missing is the political will to do so. Relying on economic growth is not enough. There needs to be an intervention from the state to address the causes of poverty including ensuring that everyone has an adequate income linked to the cost of living and access to essential public services. This includes housing which is presently one of the main drivers of poverty’.She continued, ‘The report examines the approach of successive Irish governments to the reduction of poverty. We hear the voices of people experiencing poverty and the devastating impact on their lives & we look at what needs to be done to eliminate poverty in Ireland, one of the wealthiest countries in the world.’