Minister Joe O’Brien addresses the commemoration for the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17th
The UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is on 17 October annually and has had international focus since its formal UN adoption in 1992. In Ireland, the day is promoted by the 17 October Committee and All Together in Dignity – ATD Ireland. It aims to promote understanding and dialogue between people living in poverty and the wider society.
It is a day to express friendship and solidarity with people who must live with poverty and social exclusion every day of the year, in Ireland and around the world.
Commenting on the commemoration, Minister Joe O’Brien said:
“On Tuesday I attended the commemoration for the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
In my role as Minister with responsibility for Social Inclusion, I oversee the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, the national strategy for poverty reduction and improved social inclusion. The Roadmap aims to reduce the level of consistent poverty to 2% or less by 2025, and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU.
We published a mid-term review of the Roadmap in June which found that we are making progress in achieving the wide-ranging commitments, but also that we needed to add in commitments in new areas that weren’t included in the Roadmap and which are important to social inclusion, like improvements to transport and digital literacy.
It is crucial we recognise that poverty is an unfortunate reality of life in Ireland but equally it is crucial that we recognise that this cannot be considered acceptable.
Budget 2024 saw the announcement of the largest social welfare package in the history of the State and I was encouraged to see the post-budgetary analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute which estimates that these measures announced will result in reductions in the at-risk-of-poverty rate of most groups.
My Department supports 17 local, regional and national events such as the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and both the Department and I are committed to addressing all forms of poverty.”