New Programme for Government needs a vision for an equal and inclusive society

“An Ireland where everyone can live a life free of poverty and is guaranteed an adequate income and access to all the services we need to thrive.”

2nd December 2024  While many promises were made by parties in the lead-up to the General Election the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) believes now is the time to have the conversation about how those promises must create an equal and inclusive society. It has now called for those in the new Government to focus on equality and inclusiveness as it sets out its overall vision for Irish society in the coming weeks. 

The call comes as SVP publishes its proposals for the next Programme for Government entitled ‘Delivering an equal and inclusive Ireland’ which sets out the SVP Vision for 2030, which is “An Ireland where everyone can live a life free of poverty and is guaranteed an adequate income and access to all the services we need to thrive.” 

Rose McGowan, SVPs National President said; “The next Government must show leadership based on the values of human dignity, social justice, equality and the collective good of society. These values must be the cornerstone of the next Programme for Government.”

She went on to say, “It’s clear our economy is not working for everyone and many are being left behind. Currently, there are 913,000 people going without the basics in Ireland today. Almost 1 in 5 children are living in deprivation. Our next Government must become serious about ending child poverty.”

In 2023, SVP received over a quarter of a million calls for support, 30,000 of those callers reached out to SVP for the first time, many of whom are working in low paid jobs unable to make ends meet. 

National Social Justice Committee Chair and SVP Volunteer for 17 years Nessan Vaughan says “We want the next government to end poverty, they must make a commitment to legislate to protect socio-economic status, make poverty proofing and poverty targets legally binding and create a Social Welfare Commission to benchmark social welfare rates to a Minimum Essential Standard of Living.” 

There are 18 key proposals from SVP for inclusion in the next Programme for Government are:

Ambition On Ending Poverty

1. Enact a Poverty Act to make targets and poverty proofing legally binding. 
2. Introduce socio-economic status as a ground in Equality legislation. 
3. Retain the Child Poverty and Well-Being Unit and create a ringfenced Children’s Budget. 

Income and Employment

1. Set up a Social Welfare Commission to recommend annual increases and benchmark social welfare rates to a Minimum Essential Standard of Living. 
2. Establish a statutory system of child maintenance and remove from Family Courts. 
3. Commit to a public model of Early Years Education and Care and appoint a junior minister for Early Years.

Housing and Homelessness 

1. Increase the size of social and cost-rental housing to 20% of all housing stock. 
2. Place homeless prevention on a statutory footing and ringfence funding to Local Authorities. 
3. Establish a Migration Agency dealing with all International Protection matters.

Education

1. Expand and effectively resource the Equal Start model for early years. 
2. Commit to a full funding review of schools to deliver genuinely free education. 
3. Review and reform SUSI to make it fit for purpose.

Energy and Climate Justice

1. Set a new target to reduce energy poverty and develop a strategy on a statutory footing. 
2. Incorporate private rented tenants into retrofitting plans with a focus on HAP tenants. 
3. Mainstream and resource a national community energy advice service. 

Disability and Supports for Children with Additional Needs

1. Co-produce a new system of disability payments with Disabled Persons. 
2. Expand in-school therapeutic services to all primary and post-primary schools. 
3. Set up a special taskforce to address waiting lists for children with additional needs. 

 “Delivering an equal and Inclusive Ireland” is available here at svp.ie