Stormont minister says Northern Ireland anti-poverty plan will make 'meaningful difference'
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has insisted a long-awaited Stormont plan - 17 years in the making - to tackle poverty will make a "meaningful difference".
That's despite the strategy been criticised as 'underwhelming' and it lacking targets.DUP MLA Lyons launched an extended 14-week public consultation on the Executive's Anti-Poverty Strategy 2025-35 on Tuesday.He described it as being based on three pillars of minimising risks of falling into poverty, minimising the impact of poverty on people's lives and working to help people get out of poverty.
Figures indicated that around 18% of those in Northern Ireland live in relative poverty, and 15% live in absolute poverty, with 25% of children living in relative poverty and 21% of children living in absolute poverty.The strategic commitments from across departments include continuing the Extended Schools Programme, working with partners to scope out an NI Debt Relief Scheme, a commitment to develop an Executive Disability Strategy and a Fuel Poverty Strategy.Speaking in the Assembly, Mr Lyons described a 'legacy of delay' in taking forward an anti-poverty strategy.'When I took office, I made it clear that one of my priorities would be tackling poverty,' he told MLAs.'After a legacy of delay in taking this work forward, I wanted to work at pace to develop a strategy which could help make a meaningful difference to those experiencing socio-economic disadvantage in our society.'I and my Executive colleagues have worked to develop a strategy which we will make progress against and can and will make a difference to people's lives.'This strategy is the culmination of considerable hard work, collaboration and co-design, and I want to thank all those stakeholders, in particular the members of the anti-poverty co-design group, who have worked with my department in providing their input.'We often hear about the silo approach in government, but I know that ministers and officials across the executive departments have worked together on the draft in a spirit of co-operation and collective ownership.'He added that targets will come later with an action plan following a consultation process.Mark H Durkan from the official Opposition at Stormont described the document as 'underwhelming'.He contended it didn't just 'call into question the Executive's ability to tackle poverty', but also their appetite and ambition to do so.Mr Lyons hit back, claiming Mr Durkan was 'wrong on every point that he made'.'It has been 17 years that we have been waiting for this document, and after 17 months in office, I have been able to bring this forward,' he said.
Existing budget pressures within the Executive have caused others to question how the action plan will be prioritised during future budget allocations.
Mr Lyons said the plan outlines a "realistic set of proposals" and hopes "Ministers will find budget if additional funding is needed."
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