Social Exclusion

Officials from the Office for Social Inclusion will attend the meeting and detail how the State will implement the goals of this EU initiative.

The European Union is one of the richest areas in the world, but still 17% of EU Citizens have such limited resources that they cannot afford the basics.

Committee Chairman, Bernard Durkan TD said;
“The current (2006) rate of consistent poverty in Ireland is 6.5%, having reduced from 8.2% in 2003. Regrettably, the current economic downturn is likely to increase the risk of people falling into poverty.

This European Union sponsored drive could provide impetus to tackling the levels of poverty and social exclusion in Ireland and across the European Union. The purpose of the meeting tomorrow is to learn from those with direct responsibility for implementing the programme in Ireland, what they propose to do and what impact it is likely to have.”

Some of the stated aims of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion are: giving voice to the concerns and needs of people experiencing poverty, promoting a society that sustains quality of life, engaging with civil society organisations that fight poverty and social exclusion.

The Office for Social Inclusion is part of the Department of Social and Family Affairs and has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the government’s social inclusion policy which includes the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016.