merrion street

At a meeting of the Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group, Joe O’Brien, Minister of State at the Departments of Social Protection and Rural and Community Development with special responsibility for Community Development and Charities, announced his intention to establish a Working Group to tackle the issue of food poverty in accordance with the commitment on food poverty in the Roadmap. It is envisaged that the group will comprise senior officials from various Government Departments and representatives from relevant NGOs.

The meeting was the second meeting of the Steering Group and it was noted that in the period since the inaugural meeting in November 2020 a number of key actions and commitments have been significantly progressed or achieved including, amongst others;

• the introduction of the Schemeunder the Dormant Accounts Action Plan to support and Improve Employment Opportunities for Carers and Persons with a Disability,

• the increase in Parental Leave from 2 to 5 weeks,  and

• the launch of the national volunteering strategy and the recent launch of the new rural strategy.

Minister O’Brien noted that both the Programme for Government and the Roadmap for Social Inclusion commit to addressing food poverty. Minister O’Brien said he is committed to overseeing a comprehensive programme of work to further explore the drivers of food poverty and to identify mitigating actions. Food poverty has been defined as the inability to have an adequate and nutritious diet due to issues of affordability or accessibility.

Minister O’Brien commented:

“Both the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development oversee a number of specific social inclusion programmes that either directly or indirectly play a role in helping to alleviate food poverty.

“Programmes such as the EU Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD) and the School Meals Programme provide funding towards the provision of food to some 1,557 schools and organisations benefitting 227,000 children. Both Departments support a variety of community organisations in providing Meals on Wheels to older people.

“It is clear that the issue cross-cuts a number of Departments who are engaged in programmes or services that are either directly or indirectly connected to the issue of food poverty – everything from disseminating literature on good nutrition to working with school authorities to provide hot meals.

“I believe that in putting together this Working Group on Food Poverty we can harness the collective efforts of all Departments and tackle the issue of food poverty in a coherent and holistic manner.”