Poverty still a blot on economy - conference

from RTE News

The incidence of poverty remains a blot on our booming economy the annual Ceifin conference has heard in Ennis.

Despite the boom significantly improving the lives of many here, economist Paul Tansey told the conference, one in ten people is economically vulnerable.

He said that 9% of people are living lives of quiet desperation, trapped in consistent poverty.

Mr Taansey said public resources marked in the national plans appear wholly inadequate to tackle concentrations of multiple deprivation in defined physical areas of rural and urban disadvantage.

The eradication of such poverty blackspots should, in his view, take precedence over all other social priorities.

On a positive note, Mr Tansey pointed out that last year employment topped 2m for the first time, and involuntary emigration has ceased.

He said by far the most dramatic development in social terms is the number of women working outside the home.

In the ten years between 1996 and 2006 it increased by 355,000 to 866,000.

Opening the 'Tracking the Tiger - a Decade of Change' conference this morning, Fr Harry Bohan said the aim of the gathering is to identify key issues touching the lives of families and communities in Irealnd.

This year the conference sets out to explore the influence of the economic miracle and how it has affected key areas of Irish life.