February '26: Social Justice Newsletter
Welcome to the Social Justice Team Newsletter - Feb 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
Social Justice in SVP. We advocate across multiple areas including homelessness, energy poverty, education inequality, social welfare adequacy and low pay.
Using research, analysis, evidence, and feedback from our members, we can demonstrate the impact of poverty in Ireland and develop policies which will work to eradicate poverty and create a more equal society. We are evidence led, advocating to create great fairness. Welcome especially to new readers to this newsletter.
Speaking Up
On Bank Holiday. Mon 2nd Feb, Louise Bayliss, SVP Head of Social Justice and Policy was in Newstalk studios for an in-depth interview on the homeless figures that were released on Fri 30th Jan. The following day Louise was on Highland Radio and LMFM again addressing the meaning of these figures.
On Fri 13th Feb, Louise was a panellist on RTE Radio 1 The Gathering with David McCullagh. The panellists included Louise, Maeve O’Connell TD, Kathleen Funchion TD and Harry McGee, Irish Times. The discussion included a debate around the new rental legislation as implemented from Sat 1st March. We invite you to listen back to the interview here.
On February 27th, Louise was on RTE Radio 1, Morning Ireland and the 6pm and 9 o’clock TV news on RTE discussing the increase of households experiencing energy poverty. The CRU (Commission for the Regulation of Utilities) had published figures showing almost 320,000 households are in arrears with their electricity bills and that was 20% higher than the previous year. The same evening, Louise was on RTE Radio 1 Drivetime, discussing the publication of the homeless figures that day. The results revealed the highest number of people ever in emergency accommodation at 17,112.
Submissions
Child and Family Homeless Action Plan:
As child and family homelessness has continued to rise, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage called for submissions from key stakeholders to inform to inform an Action Plan to address child and family homelessness.
Currently, out of 17,112 people in emergency accommodation, the majority are in families (9,665) including 5,319 children. SVP made a submission to the Department, emphasising that poverty is a key driver in family homelessness and the importance of income adequacy as a family homelessness prevention tool. We invite you to read the SVP submission here.
Policy in Focus
Energy Arrears: Latest Figures:
At the end of Feb 2026, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) released the December 2025 figures on energy arrears. These figures show that over 319,459 households are in electricity arrears (20% increase from December 2024), with 179,054 gas customers in arrears (9% increase from December 2024).
To put these figures in context, they represent 14% of domestic electricity customers and 26% of domestic gas customers. The average value of an account in arrears was € 466.03 for an electricity account and € 192.25 for a gas account. SVP is regularly engaging with the CRU on the need for affordable repayment plans and greater support for households in energy poverty.
Importantly, the disconnection rates of households on PAYG meters are excluded from this data. This is particularly concerning given households in energy poverty will often be put on PAYG by suppliers, or ‘opt’ for PAYG to control energy spending. SVP continues to ask the CRU to collect and publish data on these households.
Behind The Scenes
National Social Justice Committee:
On Sat 7th Feb, Louise Bayliss and Allison O'Malley, SVP Research and Policy Officer, Social Justice, attended the regular SVP National Social Justice Committee meeting. The meeting is an important opportunity to hear updates from members across the country and agree priorities for the the Social Justice Team.
At the Committee Meeting, we discussed overarching structural trends members are seeing in home visitation and began developing a long-term strategy for the Social Justice Team. Thank you to the Committee members who attended both in-person and online.
National Membership Team Meeting:
The Social Justice Team met with the National Member Support Team on the Wed 11th Feb to discuss our work and areas of overlap. Our colleagues on the Member Support Team deliver clear clear guidelines and support for household visitations and we regularly partner with that Team to develop guidance and build relationships with other organisations to improve SVP’s supports. Our meeting focused on how we can communicate on social justice and policy changes to members.
Public support for welfare policies and reducing inequality in Ireland - ESRI:
On Wed 18th Feb, the ESRI published a Report on Public support for welfare policies and reducing inequality in Irelaand Louise presented the SVP response to the Report, which we invite you to watch here.
The ESRI research investigated attitudes and beliefs about fairness, welfare support and those that receive them. In her closing remarks, Louise stated that poverty is not inevitable. It is influenced by choices we make as a country. The message from the ESRI report is clear. The findings show that the public is open to better choices and fairer policies. Our focus now is to leverage this evidence as effective as we can and to communicate it in a way that connects with both the head and the heart, around reducing inequality in Ireland.
DEIS Plus Advisory Group:
We attended a discussion on the final workings of the DEIS Plus Strategy that is nearing completion. We have given our time and insights to this Strategy Group, alongside other agencies, to advocate for the development of additional support in schools in the communities that experience the greater disadvantage because of intergenerational poverty and inequality. The new Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton attended some of the meeting to give her thanks to the Advisory Groups support to the development of this model.
ALONE:
We are members of the Loneliness Taskforce Research Network. In the first event of 2026, Dr. Gretta Mohan, Economist, ESRI delivered a presentation on her 'Lived Experience of Loneliness: Links to Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts,' research. We invite you to view the presentation here.
Children's Rights Alliance – Convention on Education with the Voluntary and Community Sector:
We were invited to take part in a group discussion about how SVP as a organisation concerned with the wellbeing and rights of children in our education system think the direction the upcoming convention on education should go. As one of the key stakeholder groups, we were asked two questions: What should the Convention focus on? And how can we influence it? We discussed how the sector, together could respond to the Convention on education. More will follow from this.
Together for Public Alliance:
We are members of a group led by National Women's Council (NWC), titled Together for Public, which is an Alliance bringing together over 40 civil society organisations, trade unions, academics and childcare providers that are campaigning for a Public System of Early Childhood Education and Care as the best way to tackle the crisis. A joint submission has been developed in response to National Conversation on Education for Early Years. SVP also completed the consultation survey.
National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) webinar:
The Wheel hosted a webinar with presentations from the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) including 'Maurice' who received their support and was working with them to share his experience to improve our understanding. Maurice talked about his experience of school, how it impacted his life, how getting support made a positive impact and how he himself learned to identify someone needing support. We invite you to view the presentation here.
This is an opportunity to understand the lived experience of someone who had difficult literacy levels and what NALA is doing to support people and organisations to understand how and what support could be given. We heard about intergenerational disadvantage and the link to higher literacy and numeracy needs, the real-world impact and advice on adopting a literacy friendly approach.
Energy Poverty & Retrofit MEP Meeting:
On Wed 18th Feb, SVP participated in a Roundtable on Energy Poverty, organised by Lynn Boylan, MEP. We discussed broader trends in energy poverty and its impacts on outcomes for children, issues and successes our members are seeing with heat pumps as part of the national retrofit scheme, and once again raised concerns on the lack of data for households on Pay-As-You-Go metres. The roundtable was an opportunity to pool experiences from across NGOs including the CRA and Alone.
Newsletter Feedback
We have had some very positive feedback from Members and external peers on previous issue of this newsletter. Thanks to those who got in touch. If you’d like to provide feedback please email socialjustice.newsletter@svp.ie
For those in NI, please get in touch with the team if you have any items you wish to make them aware of socialjustice@svpni@co.uk
