Government criticised over poverty figures

Reaction: Opposition parties have criticised the Government over the findings of the latest UN Development Programme (UNDP) report which show that Ireland has the second-highest level of poverty in the Western world.

The report also shows that Ireland has jumped from 18th to 12th place in the Human Development Index, putting it just behind Denmark and ahead of the United Kingdom.

The index, based on life expectancy, educational attainment and real income, has Norway in first place and Sierra Leone at the bottom of the list of 175 countries.

But the Labour Party spokesman on social and family affairs, Mr Willie Penrose, said the fact that Ireland was at the same level of poverty as last year proved the Government's policies were "bereft of equity and fairness".

He claimed the Government was "completely out of touch with the reality facing many hard-pressed families on the breadline".

The continuing high level of poverty, in a period of unprecedented economic buoyancy, was "a shocking verdict on the iniquitous policies of this socially divisive Government".

The Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, called on the Government to make development aid and related issues a priority during Ireland's impending EU presidency, which extends for six months from January 2004.

"The UN report outlines a new approach to aid and development in the developing world. This raises issues of unfair trade subsidies and tariffs, unsustainable debt and access to new technology for developing countries," Mr Mitchell said.

The Green Party TD, Mr Dan Boyle, said the effect of Ireland being honoured as a location to launch the report was undermined by the contents of the document, "which continues to show Ireland as one of the most unequal countries of its kind in the Western world".

He added: "If the Government is really interested in a just society in Ireland, it needs to change tack and produce policies which narrow rather than widen this income gap.

"According to the UN report, poverty levels in Ireland, at 15.3 per cent of the population, are being exceeded only by the US, where 15.8 per cent live in poverty," Mr Boyle said.

The Sinn Féin TD, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, said the inequality findings in the report, in conjunction with the ESRI forecast of a serious economic downturn, exposed the "failure" of the Coalition Government's economic strategy.

"They failed to use the unprecedented economic upturn of the past six years to rebuild our infrastructure and greatly increase social provision, as they could have done.

"As a result our inadequate infrastructure is contributing to the economic slowdown, while the failure to tackle social and economic exclusion means we have the highest level of poverty in the Western world outside the US, as shown by today's UN report," Mr Ó Caoláin said.

The full text of the report can be downloaded from the Internet at the following web address: www.undp.org/hdr2003/.