UN Day for the eradication of Poverty highlights challenges facing Government in Budget 2010 and beyond

October 17 is UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  In Ireland the build-up to this year's Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been dominated by statements from the Taoiseach and several Government ministers concerning the likely harsh impact of the decisions Government will make in Budget 2010 which is to be published on December 9, 2009.  Social Justice Ireland wishes to point out that as Ireland faces a range of interrelated crises:

• Ireland is not a poor country;
• Ireland’s total tax-take is one of the lowest in the developed world and continues to fall as a percentage of GDP and GNP;
• 15.8% of people are at risk of poverty with incomes below €12,000 for a single person or €28,000 for a family of four;
• 31% of all the households at risk of poverty today are headed by a person with a job. 
• A further 50% are headed by a person outside the labour force (i.e. older people and people who are ill, have a serious disability or are in caring roles) and are totally dependent on social welfare.
• It is both essential and possible to protect the vulnerable in the choices Government makes;

An integrated approach to tackling the country’s current problems is essential if they are to be addressed successfully. An integrated approach requires Government to

• Increase the over-all tax take while keeping Ireland a low-tax country and without raising income tax rates;
• Secure better value for money in the delivery of our public services;
• Reform the public sector;
• Target expenditure cuts where required but ensure that vulnerable people are protected. A good starting point would be the elimination of waste identified in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s recent report;
• Focus expenditure on the common good to provide required infrastructure and public services.

In practice giving priority to the vulnerable would mean:

• No cuts in social welfare rates;
• No cut in the minimum wage;
• Compensating those on lowest incomes for any increases in living costs associated with initiatives such as the introduction of a carbon tax;
• Giving priority in education to funding primary education;
• Giving priority in health to primary care teams;
• Giving priority in housing to social housing programmes;
• Giving priority to the unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed.
• Increasing the tax-take fairly.

On 22 December 1992, the UN General Assembly declared 17 October each year as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all States to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution.
The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of poverty, violence and hunger. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on October 17 to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor.
The Irish Government should mark this UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty by making a definitive commitment that all vulnerable people will be fully protected from any negative impacts following on initiatives taken in Budget 2010.