THE COMBAT Poverty Agency has responded to growing speculation that it may be amalgamated or abolished as a result of Government cutbacks by insisting it has crucial role to play in tackling poverty and social exclusion.
In an interview with The Irish Times, agency director Kevin Kelly said its work over recent decades had helped to bring about much of the framework to tackle poverty in Ireland. The agency's contribution would be needed if the Government is to meet its ambitious target to reduce the number of people consistently living in poverty within the next four years. "If this agency was lost the independent, evidence-based advice tackling poverty would be lost as well," Mr Kelly said.
"We're different from other groups in that we're not a single issue organisation. We're not coming at tackling poverty from an ideological perspective.
"Instead, we consider poverty at a broad level that considers its complexities and dynamics. We provide independent evidence based advice, that is not influenced by existing policy boundaries."
A review of the agency - a statutory organisation responsible for advising the Government on policies to reduce poverty in Ireland - was started in June of 2007 by the office for social inclusion, which is based in the Department of Social Affairs.
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin has said the review is still underway and no decision has been made over the agency's future.
However, she questioned the rationale for the agency in a recent radio discussion on the issue.
There is also growing speculation in Government circles that the agency may be amalgamated with other groups as part of a cutback in Government spending.
Mr Kelly said the agency could play a pivotal role in ensuring the Government reaches targets set out in its 10-year national action plan for social inclusion.
Current economic pressures and, in particular, high numbers of job losses made the environment for reaching this target more difficult.
"People tend to get confused about figures and measurement of poverty but the burning issue is that thousands of people are living on €210 a week. The increasing cost of living, with rising food and fuel prices, and indirect taxes is hitting these families disproportionately," Mr Kelly said. "We evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies and structures and seek to address gaps and build capacity.
"In order to meet the Government's commitment to reduce the number of people in poverty, we need tackle a range of areas, including the inter-generational cycle of poverty.
"In this respect our work doesn't end with the production of a report; we work with a range of actors to ensure that our policy advice is put into practice."
He said the work of the agency in previous years had resulted in key developments. These included the regular monitoring of poverty by the Central Statistics Office; Government response to poverty in the form of national anti-poverty strategies and action plans; and a comprehensive set of structures for delivering anti-poverty objectives.
