Minister of State Joe O'Brien publishes the Food Poverty Action Plan

The Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Social Inclusion, Joe O’Brien TD, has today (Thursday 11 July 2024) published an Action Plan which aims to address Food Poverty in Ireland.

Minister Joe O’Brien established the Food Poverty Working Group in 2021 with representatives from a range of government departments and the community and voluntary sector. The Minister has chaired the group through a series of regular meetings and research projects since its inception.

The Action Plan published today is a result of the extensive work undertaken by the Food Poverty Working Group, including a pivotal case study approach wherein people directly experiencing food poverty were engaged with, in order to provide the group with a deeper understanding of the drivers of food poverty and to inform policy recommendations to address the drivers.

Launching the report during the Department of Social Protection’s Annual Pre-Budget Forum with Stakeholders from across the NGO sector, Minister Joe O’Brien said:

“Reducing food poverty requires a unified effort from all government departments and civil society, as well as the ongoing delivery of the actions contained in the Food Poverty Action Plan we are launching today, which will play a vital role in addressing the issue of food poverty.

No person in Ireland should find themselves in a position where they need to seek emergency support to be able to access sufficient and nutritious food.

This Action Plan follows consultation with relevant government departments and with community and voluntary sector organisations working in this area and who have been members of the Working Group. It includes both existing and future actions to address food poverty, including the Food Poverty Case worker pilot programme. which I launched in September 2023 in Dublin, Cork and Limerick and I hope to see this programme receive continued funding in Budget 2025.”

Report on Food Poverty in Ireland

In addition to the Action Plan, Minister O’Brien has also published a report into the nature of Food Poverty in Ireland. This report was undertaken by Amárach research, on behalf of the Food Poverty Working Group. The report analysed the prevalence of food poverty, identified the drivers of food poverty, and examined the range of service providers and actors relating to food poverty in two case study areas – one urban area in Dublin and one rural area in Connaught. The report highlighted –

• Household income is a key factor.

• The signposting of services and supports, and education initiatives, appears to be most successful if communicated via an existing service relationship.

• There is a reliance on the community and voluntary sector, with a call for greater financial, educational and psychological support for both those supporting and those in need.

• There is a need for food nutrition related poverty and associated issues, such as obesity, to be normalised in conversation.

• Education is key and for parents in particular.

Minister Joe O’Brien concluded:

“This research report highlights the continued need for concrete initiatives to address the underlying issues that lead to food poverty and helped to inform the design of the Action Plan which I published today. I thank all members for their work and their contribution to the Food Poverty Action Plan.”

Notes to Editors

The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020 - 2025, published in January 2020, is a whole of Government strategy with the ambitious target to reduce consistent poverty to 2% and make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU.

Goal 7 of the Roadmap is to “ensure that all people can live with confidence that they have access to good quality healthcare, housing, energy and food.” Commitment 61 of the Roadmap commits Government to “develop a comprehensive programme of work to further explore the drivers of food poverty and to identify mitigating actions.”

In order to advance this commitment the Food Poverty Working Group was established in 2021, consisting of representatives from a range of Government Departments and the community and voluntary sector and chaired by Minister Joe O’Brien. The group has published –

• a high-level mapping exercise outlining the programmes, services and supports across Government that address food poverty, in July 2022,

• a report analysing the prevalence of food poverty in two case study areas, one rural and one urban, published today (insert link),

• an action plan of current and future initiatives to address food poverty, published today (insert link),

In addition, under Budget 2023, the Government announced funding to be allocated to the Department of Social Protection to introduce a pilot scheme, based on a case worker model, to support people experiencing food poverty. The Department issued a Request for Tender in Q2 2023 seeking applications from organisations that can provide a case worker support service for people experiencing poverty in four regions of Ireland – Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. Submissions were received for three regions and, following their evaluation, contracts were awarded to Crosscare, Dublin; Feed Cork, Cork; and Mid-West Simon, Limerick, with the pilot commencing in September 2023.

Measuring food poverty in Ireland

There is no official food poverty indicator in Ireland. However, in 2012 the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) developed a measure which defined food poverty as the inability to have an adequate and nutritious diet due to issues of affordability or accessibility. This measure is derived using data collected as part of the annual Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC).

Using this approach food poverty is measured by the percentage of individuals experiencing 1 or more of the following:

1. Unable to afford a meal with meat, or vegetarian equivalent, every second day. This indicator suggests severe food deprivation and is 1 of the 11 deprivation items used for the consistent poverty measure.

2. Unable to afford a weekly roast dinner (or vegetarian equivalent). This indicator refers to the affordability of food, and in addition, the affordability of a cultural norm. While reference to a weekly roast may seem outdated, the indicator refers to those who cannot afford this. This item is also 1 of the 11 deprivation items used for the consistent poverty measure.

3. Missing one substantial meal in the last fortnight due to lack of money. This item, in its reference to the affordability of food, but not the quality or adequacy of it, refers to severe food deprivation. This item is not 1 of the 11 deprivation items used for the consistent poverty measure. Also, it is asked of all respondents over 16 years of age whereas the other deprivation items are asked at a household level.