The Irish Government launched the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 in February 2007. The Plan identifies a number of high level strategic goals in priority areas in order to achieve the overall objective of reducing consistent poverty. The targeted actions and interventions are designed to mobilise resources to address long-standing and serious social deficits. They focus on:
ensuring children reach their true potential;
supporting working age people and people with disabilities, through activation measures and the provision of services to increase employment and participation;
providing the type of supports that enable older people to maintain a comfortable and high quality standard of living; and
building viable and sustainable communities, improving the lives of people living in disadvantaged areas and building social capital.
In view of the very substantial progress achieved in enhancing income support over recent years, these goals place a renewed emphasis on services, activation measures and supporting quality employment. The plan recognises the continuing challenges faced by those in work but on low incomes, as well as the vulnerability of those in households without any employment.
The overall poverty goal is:
to reduce the number of those experiencing consistent poverty to between 2% and 4% by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016, under the revised definition.
The high level goals, as set out in the attached overview, are aimed at:
the provision of targeted pre-school education;
reducing literacy difficulties and tackling early school leaving;
maintaining the combined value of child income support measures at 33%-35% of the minimum adult social welfare payment rate;
introducing an active case management approach to support those on long-term social welfare into education, training and employment, with an overall aim of reducing by 20% the number of those whose total income is derived from long-term social welfare;
maintaining the relative value of the lowest social welfare rate;
continuing to increase investment in community care services for older people;
maintaining, and if possible enhancing, the value of the State Pension;
increasing the employment and participation of people with disabilities;
delivering increased housing output to meet the accommodation needs of some 60,000 new households, the homeless, Travellers, older people and people with disabilities;
developing 500 primary care teams to improve access to services in the community, with particular emphasis on meeting the needs of holders of medical cards; and
developing a strategy aimed at achieving the integration of newcomers in Irish society (Note 20).
In addition to the high level goals, there are some 154 targeted actions and interventions set out in the Plan designed to ensure that a decisive impact is made on poverty.
Note 20 The Reception and Integration Agency of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform will avail of the EU Fund for Integration of Third Country Nationals to further this goal
