From left: Social Democrats co-leaders Roisin Shortall with Catherine Murphy, Jennifer Whitmore TD and Holly Cairns TD this morning
This morning/afternoon.
Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
The launch of a Social Democrats Private Members’ Bill which will be brought to the Dáil tomorrow to ‘eliminate consistent child poverty’ by 2025.
Jennifer Whitmore TD, the party’s spokesperson for Children, said:
“Our motion calls on the Government to firmly state that they will eliminate consistent child poverty over the next five years and asks that they make that commitment in law to the children of Ireland. With political will, this can be achieved during the lifetime of this Dáil.
“We want the Government to legislate for this ambitious target, and establish a cross-departmental Child Poverty Unit, headed by the Department of the Taoiseach.
“The statistics are stark. One in five children under the age of 18 – that’s over 200,000 – are living in poverty in Ireland today. Of these, more than 90,000 children are living in consistent poverty.
“All previous Government targets to reduce child poverty have failed time and time again. These targets are meaningless unless there is a coherent, comprehensive and properly resourced approach, matched with the ambition to deliver.”