Republican News · Thursday 27 February 2002

No will to tackle child poverty

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Social and Community Affairs Seán Crowe TD, speaking on the Social Welfare Bill yesterday, hit out at the government for its failure to address child poverty.

"No amount of platitudes can hide the unpalatable truth that this government chose to ignore its commitment to deliver on Child Poverty. Their disgraceful u-turn means children without proper clothes or food, children going to school hungry and deprived of certain essentials of life," said the Dublin TD. "Fianna Fáil backbenchers claim that child poverty was targeted in the Budget. It is true that children were targeted in the last Budget, they were targeted for cutbacks in the form of broken promises on Child Benefit and access to medical cards.

"We see the result every single day. This morning throughout this state, children went to school hungry, some of them cold and poorly dressed. 90,000 Irish children are living in consistent poverty and almost a quarter of a million children in relative poverty. And this is still supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

"The government claims there is no finance available to help starving children but the truth is the money is there, the financing is there, the real question is does this government have the political will to deliver? Does it have the will to tax big business, to redistribute some of the obscene profits made by banks to badly need social programmes? Does it have the will to put the needs of the most vulnerable, the needs of the poor, the hungry and the sick before the desires of the better off in Irish society? The answer, so clear from the legislation before the House today is that it does not."