More than three quarters of a million people are in poverty in Ireland - an indictment of Government policy

• 756,591 people are living in poverty in Ireland according to the latest CSO statistics published today..
• Even though the poverty line fell by 15% since 2008, the proportion of Ireland's population below this lower poverty line has risen by 15% during the same period.
• 68,740 of those over 65 are in poverty (up from 9.7% to 12.1% in a single year).
• 220,411 children (18.8%) still live in poverty (proportion unchanged since last year).
• Since the crash the proportion of people in consistent poverty has risen by 83%.  (4.2% of the population were in this situation in 2008 compared to 7.7% according to the new study).

There are 756,591 people in poverty in Ireland. Even though the poverty line fell by 15% since 2008 the proportion of Ireland's population below this lower poverty line has risen by 15% during the same period.  The fact that one in six people in Ireland is in poverty is an indictment of Government policy and highlights its failure to protect the most vulnerable.

Government did have choices. However the choices it made resulted in 220,411 children (18.8%) living in poverty in Ireland while 68,740 people over 65 are in poverty.  This is a totally unacceptable situation.

If the poverty line had not fallen since the start of the crash, a quarter of the population would be below this line according to the latest CSO SILC study published today.

Since the crash the proportion of people in consistent poverty has risen by 83%(4.2% of the population were in this situation in 2008 compared to 7.7% according to the new study). There is also a working poor problem with 6% of all those with a job living in poverty while more than a third of those who are unemployed are in poverty.

The full CSO text may be accessed here.