3.11 Social Inclusion

While living standards and other social indicators relating to the BMW region have improved somewhat in recent years, there are still significant pockets of disadvantage. The NDP/CSF 2000-2006 recognised the existence of these “pockets of disadvantage” in both of the regions, though stated that rural disadvantage was more prevalent in the BMW region at the time of publication.

The Combat Poverty Agency (2005) (Note 41) highlights the occurrence of poverty in localised areas, as opposed to broad administrative areas such as the BMW region. The report states that “there are regional and local differences in both the risk of poverty and in the levels of key related social indicators such as unemployment, education and social class”. These differences increase when lower levels of desegregation are examined.

The BMW region contains a disproportionate number of areas at risk of poverty and the Combat Poverty Agency report lists Donegal, Leitrim and Mayo as the counties with the highest poverty risk. Another report (Note 42), compiled for ADM (Pobal) in 2005, also examines the spatial distribution of poverty in Ireland and finds there to be significant pockets of deprivation in the country, but more so in the BMW region. This analysis also looked at the evolution of regional inequality over the three last census periods and found that the relative poverty levels of local areas changed very little over the three periods. The majority of areas identified to be most deprived were in the BMW region, as outlined in Table 3.15.

Source: ADM(Pobal)

The factors driving this deprivation, according to the ADM/Pobal report, are as follows:

• A higher dependency ratio;

• A higher incidence of lone parents;

• Higher unemployment;

• A higher proportion of households headed by semi-skilled or unskilled workers;

• Lower general educational attainment.

The Managing Authority has given due consideration to the incorporation of social inclusion considerations in the selection of interventions, where appropriate and will continue to engage with Intermediary Bodies on the contribution of interventions to promoting social inclusion and gender equality objectives in the implementation of interventions.

Note 41 Combat Poverty Agency (2005), ‘Mapping Poverty: National, Regional and County Patterns’. www.cpa.ie/publications

Note 42 Trutz Haase (2005) Deprivation and its Spatial Articulation in the Republic of Ireland

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