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A Fair Deal

Fighting Poverty and Exclusion

After a decade of Celtic Tiger growth, a policy paper on poverty in Ireland may seem out of date, a 20th Century concern. Haven’t we got as near to full employment as makes no difference? Aren’t we one of richest countries in the world? Aren’t the signs of our prosperity visible all around us?

The Irish achievement of the last fifteen years is a cause of celebration and pride: the impressive growth, our becoming a country of immigration, rising living standards. Yet the figures recited in this Labour party policy paper make for depressing reading. They show that we remain a society with marked inequalities, more pronounced than in most developed European states. And the marked differences in income are accompanied by equally marked differences in health, mortality rates, educational attainment, and so on.

Deputy Liz McManus and the Labour Leader Deputy Pat Rabbitte speaking at the launch of A Fair Deal

When you consider that there are 65,000 children in this country living in consistent poverty, and that a child of parents who did not complete their secondary education is 23 times more likely to live in poverty than a child of parents with third level qualifications, you have to conclude that life chances for children are distributed in our country on a basis that is grossly unfair.

Two stark facts emerge. First, to quote from the National Economic and Social Forum: “Ireland has less equality of opportunity than other European countries
and this has changed little over the last decade despite a huge expansion in education and economic growth”.

And, second, poverty in Ireland is inherited. Many of today’s poor are the children of yesterday’s poor and their children are the most likely candidates to be tomorrow’s poor. For example early school-leaving, school absenteeism and consequent unfulfilled potential give rise to high probabilities of lifelong and intergenerational disadvantage, poor employment prospects, low pay, ill health (including mental health) and below average life expectancy.