August '26: Social Justice Newsletter
Welcome to the Social Justice Team Newsletter - August 2026
We are delighted to bring you this month's edition, which is also available on the SVP website. We hope that you find it useful and helpful.
In this issue
Introduction
Hello and welcome to the SVP Social Justice Team Newsletter. We are delighted to bring you the behind-the-scenes work of our policy and advocacy work.
Speaking Up
Cost of Education Piece in the Irish Examiner : 'It's across the board': From digital devices to books to uniforms, parents count the cost of back to school.
On Sun, 16th Aug, Louise appeared on the newspaper panel on the Brendan O'Connor show. You can listen back here. Toward the end of August, we developed our Back-to-School Press Release. Please read here.
Policy in Focus
PIP Review Interim Report
In May this year, SVP responded to the Timms Review on Personal Independence Payment (‘PIP’).
We responded to the Review’s Call for Evidence based on the experiences of our Members in the North, and consultation directly with conferences. Information from our Members in the North also fed into our submission on Ireland’s proposed Cost of Disability Payment.
The Personal Independence Payment is a non-means tested income support for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in the United Kingdom. For the disabled people and people with health conditions receiving PIP, it is a vital payment, facilitating independence for many. However, accessing PIP requires applicants to undergo a punitive assessment process and in far too many cases, requires people to appeal decisions, leaving them waiting months for support.
Our submission focused on the need for reforms to be developed through co-design with disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. We also highlighted concerns around the lack of dignity and fairness in assessment procedures, alongside the significant burden placed on people navigating appeals.
We highlighted the strong link between disability and poverty, with four in five people referred to food banks in Northern Ireland being disabled, according to The Trussell Trust.
Unfortunately, Northern Ireland sees some of the highest rates of deprivation in the United Kingdom, particularly in health. 28% of areas in Northern Ireland fall within the 10% most health-deprived areas in the U.K., a proportion much higher than those in Scotland, Wales, of any of England’s 9 regions.
On Tues, 7th July, the Timms Review published an interim report, ahead of recommendations in the coming months. In it, the Steering Group recognised that “a fair system should not depend on people’s ability to navigate complex processes or present their circumstances in a particular way”. Many of the points our members raised with respect to the difficulty of assessment, lack of transparency, and onerous appeals process were echoed by thousands of organisations in the call for evidence. However, far fewer submissions emphasised the financial hardship brought by delays in PIP: this is a point that SVP has stressed and will continue to raise. The interim report suggests far greater understanding of the real underlying issues in PIP than previous departmental green papers.
We await recommendations from the Timms Review in the coming months. Stormont ultimately has responsibility for social security in Northern Ireland and will consider and decide on how any recommendations are to be applied.
Behind The Scenes
National Energy Affordability Taskforce
On the Thur, 30th July, Allison presented to the National Energy Affordability Taskforce. SVP was joined by colleagues from Irish Rural Link and Age Action and presented on behalf of community & voluntary and environmental organisations.
Our presentation focused on drivers and potential short, medium, and long-term solutions to energy poverty. We emphasised key issues specific to energy poverty, such as the lack of retrofit options for tenants and the inadequacy of the Fuel Allowance & Household Benefits Package, as well as wider income inadequacy putting strain on households’ ability to afford energy. We will continue to engage with the Taskforce and relevant Departments ahead of the upcoming Budget and winter season.
Meeting with the Tánaiste (Minister for Finance) and Minister for Public Expenditure
On Fri, 28th Aug, SVP was one of 17 organisations in the community and voluntary sector presenting collective budget proposals to the Tánaiste and Minister for Public Expenditure. Our joint proposals focused on income adequacy, chiefly the need to increase social welfare rates, investment in social services and infrastructure such as housing, energy, and education, and the need for supports to community and voluntary groups. Recent protests and the rising cost of living highlight the importance of community and voluntary groups as key partners with government and advocates for social cohesion.
Meeting with President of the European Economic and Social Committee
After our meeting with the Ministers, SVP hosted Seamus Boland, President of the European and Economic Social Committee (EESC) at SVP House. He leads the EU body that represents organised civil society, having previously worked alongside SVP in Irish Rural Link. Our meeting focused on his explicit anti-poverty agenda and the new opportunities for civil society organisations to input into EU decision-making. He also highlighted opportunities in Ireland’s current presidency of the Council of the European Union.
End Child Poverty Week:
The 'End Child Poverty Week' is an important annual initiative by the Children's Rights Alliance and supported by the wider sector. It is an important and necessary focus ahead of budgetary decisions. SVP welcome and support the week. The week is wrapped round two other key events, the Child Poverty Summit, organised by the Child Poverty and Well Being Unit, from the Department of An Taoiseach, and the updated ESRI/Trinity report on Poverty, that is supported by the Community Foundation of Ireland.
We attended three of the 'End Child Poverty Week 2026' events and Louise was a panellist on the event discussing children in international protection, where she outlined the experiences of members supporting families in these circumstances. The opening event included a keynote speech from Professor Aoife Nolan and Dr. Sharon Lambert. It was a timely reminder that based on our signing of the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child), the budgetary process must include our obligations to children and must ensure that their rights are realised.
The updated report on poverty highlighted that there were 200,000 children at risk of poverty. However, this rose to 260,000 after housing costs were included. The report highlighted the importance of measuring income after housing costs to understand the full extent of poverty in Ireland. Louise was a respondent to the report, and you can read her comments here. She later appeared on RTE news discussing the report.
We also attended the Child Poverty Summit and had the pleasure of joining a singing lesson with the Taoiseach and first class pupils from a nearby school in Ballymun.
What's on the Horizon
On Thur, 24th Sept, we will attend the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) School Attendance Summit, which will bring together government departments, school partners, school leaders, researchers and representatives from the community and voluntary sector.
The focus will be on examining how policy, practice and partnership can improve school attendance for all children and young people throughout Ireland.
Why are Social Justice involved in this Work?
There are barriers for children and young people in attending school which are caused by many things including poverty and chronic absence rates remain well above pre pandemic levels this is an issue for those families and children we support.
We've been invited to give to be part of a consultation group led by The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) who are working on a joint research project with the Department of Education and Youth (DEY) on developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for Delivering Equality of Opportunity (DEIS) schools.
Child poverty week – The Children's Rights Alliance are delivering a wide and varied programme of events, meetings and talks. Louise will be speaking about lone parents and homelessness at the launch of One Family's Annual report on Tues, 22nd Sept.
We continue to be members of the Convention on Education and Louise will be attending the next weekend session in Sligo on the weekend of Sept 24th.
Newsletter Feedback
We had some very helpful feedback recently from Members. Next month we will provide a breakdown of the team members and the areas that they support. Thanks for the suggestion. If you’d like to provide feedback please email socialjustice.newsletter@svp.ie
For those in NI, please get in touch with the Social Justice Team NI if you have any items you wish to make them aware of email; socialjustice@svpni.co.uk
