The idea of social welfare as a means of reducing the worst effects of poverty has to change, according to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern.
He said "there is a clear need for a new model of approach which cuts the cycle of poverty currently in operation. The new society being constructed out of Ireland's economic boom must meet clear standards".
The Minister's comments follow the publication of the department's Social Inclusion Strategy, which surveys the range of services offered by the Department and sets out the main "action points" required to achieve, in the Department's view, greater social inclusion.
The glossy 165-page document is the Department's contribution to the National Anti-Poverty Strategy, where the Government asked each department to prepare a statement on poverty within that department's own area of responsibility.
"Two-tier societies happen because they are allowed to happen," Mr Ahern said. "This strategy seeks creative, innovative ways to interrupt the cycles of poverty."
The document includes "action points" such as simplification of the means-testing system so that it "poses as small a disincentive as possible to the transition from dependency to self-sufficiency through employment while still ensuring that available resources are allocated to those most in need".
The cost of abolishing means-testing, i.e., paying the full rate of assistance regardless of means, is estimated by the Department at a minimum of £500 million a year. On the issue of the adequacy of income supports, the strategy document says, "it is generally agreed that adequacy of rates of payment must be addressed".
Measures identified to combat unemployment include restructuring income support for children to remove disincentives and poverty traps; adapting the system to encourage all forms of work, including temporary, part-time and casual work and, for young people, "ensuring unemployment is not more attractive than work or education/training".