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Welcome to the Social Justice Team Newsletter
Welcome to the first Social Justice Team Newsletter. We will be sharing with you this monthly newsletter, to give further insight and details of the work that we do as the Social Justice Team. We hope it helps you to know more about what we do and the areas that have our attention, which is
based on the key drivers of poverty and your work in your Conference.
We’ve chosen a range of things to share with you, selecting only what we think you’ll find most interesting and useful to know. It’s not an extensive list of everything we’ve do in the month. But we do hope you find it helpful.
In this issue
Introduction
What is social justice and why does it matter?
As we kick things off, we’d love to take a moment to introduce the team behind the scenes - a passionate group committed to equity, inclusion, and meaningful change.
Speak Up
Media
Food Prices
On March 20th, Louise spoke on Morning Ireland about food prices and the impact on households – you can listen back here.
Poverty Figures
On March 23rd Louise was on the newspaper panellist on the Brendan O’Connor show where she raised the issue of inflationary pressures still hurting vulnerable households and she gave the panel some stark data from the CSO on poverty and deprivation rates in Ireland. You can listen back here.
Energy
Listen to Issy discussing the impact of energy poverty, supports for high energy prices and the need for people to seek help if they are falling behind with bills on Newstalk here.
NI Programme for Government
We shared a reaction to the Northern Ireland Executive’s new Programme for Government, which you can read here. While we are disappointed that addressing poverty wasn’t included as one of the 9 agreed priorities, we were pleased to see a commitment to publishing the Anti-Poverty Strategy. We hope this marks the beginning of joined-up action to reduce poverty and social exclusion.
Children with Additional Needs Assessment and Supports
Marcella wrote an Op-Ed article which was published in The Irish Independent newspaper on Friday 14th March, read it here. The piece highlighted the experiences of members who are supporting families with children presenting with complex needs and the actions the Government have committed to address waiting times for children in the HSE.
On February 23rd, Louise was a newspaper panellist on the Brendan O’Connor show and raised issues around Assessment of Needs, school places for children with additional needs and spoke about homelessness. You can listen back here.
Submissions
Often written papers to government departments on specific issues, due to consultation or strategy or policy development or reviews.
Prepay gas submission
In February we made a submission to the CRU on plans to upgrade prepay gas meters, which rely on old technology which limits how people can top up their meters. We made initial comments welcoming the focus on this group of customers who we often assist at SVP and called for support to help people transition to the new meters. This is the beginning of the consultation process, and we will continue to share our recommendations with the CRU. Read the submission here.
NI Fuel Poverty Strategy
In March Issy made a submission to the Northern Ireland Department for Communities on their draft Fuel Poverty Strategy. It is fantastic to see progress on a new Fuel Poverty Strategy as SVP members assist people struggling with the cost of energy on a daily basis. We called for a focus on tenants in the rented sector, prepay customers, and households that use heating oil. We also called for clear targets and accountability. Read the submission here.
Department of Social Protection: Statement of Strategy
In March we made a submission to the Department of Social Protection on their 3 Year Statement of Strategy. In the submission, we advocated benchmarking social protection payments, ensuring customers are treated with dignity and respect during home inspections, and the need for a cost of disability payment. We also raised issues around energy poverty and the need to ensure vulnerable households are protected as we transition from carbon fuels. We also raised our concerns that access to supports is difficult for people without digital skills and our concerns around the impact of high landlord top-ups are having on households.
Policy in Focus
EU SILC
The most recent EU SILC data on deprivation and poverty were issued in March. While there was some positive news, there were some worrying concerns.
Overall, the rate of enforced deprivation fell by 1.6%, for children it was only 0.2% and for one parent households it increased by 4.9%. For a more in-depth analysis see attached.
By, Louise Bayliss.
Behind The Scenes
Social Protection
In February the Department for Social Protection invited several stakeholders to attend an OECD High Level Policy Forum in Paris: ‘New Frontiers for Social Policy: Investing in the Future’.
Issy from the Social Justice team was delighted to have the chance to join. This was an opportunity to hear from international experts on three societal changes that will impact all aspects of our social protection system in the coming years: the digitalisation of government services, the impacts of decarbonisation, and changing demographics and an aging population. We will share a longer update about the trip soon.
NI Social Justice Group
In February the Northern Region Social Justice group met online to discuss our priorities for the year ahead and shared issues that are arising for conferences in their visitation work. These issues included people needing help with heating costs, furnishing new tenancies, and the impact of waiting lists for health services and assessments. A key moment for 2025 will be the publication of the Executive’s Anti-Poverty Strategy, which we hope to see soon.
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 socialjustice@svpni@co.uk
Energy
On the 11th of March, Issy and Louise from the Social Justice Team and Michael Higgins from Members Support had a joint meeting with MABS Support and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to discuss the challenges facing people in energy poverty who we assist. Our conversation focused on people who are in energy arrears. This was a productive joint meeting, and we will continue our engagement with CRU to ensure there are strong protections in place for people next winter.
Homelessness
National Homelessness Action Committee: On March 5th, Louise met with the Minister for Housing, James Browne, along with other leaders from the homeless sector. Louise raised the issue of HAP top-ups leading to arrears and ultimately homelessness. Minister Browne said he would try to arrange a meeting for SVP with the Minister for Social Protection.
Marcella and Louise attended an event in Ozanam Resource Centre organised by Treior. The keynote speaker was Mike Allen from Focus Ireland followed by Kellyann Byrne who spoke of her experiences of homelessness as a child and as a lone parent. Kellyanns’ contribution was moving and insightful that showed the many challenges she faced while trying to secure long term accommodation. Her story showed her resilience during her time in homeless accommodation and the love and care she has for her children, one of whom attended the event and was the star attraction with her Peppa Pig blanket!
Children with Additional Needs and Supports
SVP Social Justice and Member Support Team’s organised a joint online briefing for members, it focused on assisting children with complex needs. Ann Bourke, Head of Service, National Children's Disability Service - Access and Integration. The video recording is attached below and is well worth a listen as Ann provides practical and useful insights for members working with families affected. Assisting Children with Complex Needs.mp4
Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card: On February 25th, Louise spoke at the launch of the Children’s Rights Alliance report card and raised the issue of children in Direct Provision still not receiving child benefit, despite it being in the Budget.
Education
In Mid-March Niamh attended a meeting hosted by The Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA), with presentations by Tusla Education Support Service (TESS). The meeting was a chance for CRA members to engage directly with TESS and hear important updates on their services and join discussion on absenteeism, school avoidance, school refusal and the use of reduced school days. TESS had also commissioned a report from the ESRI titled, School Completion Programme Revisited. Click here to read more about the report.
In early February Niamh attended the launch of report from TASC, ‘Educations perspective on the challenges, successes and opportunities of the DEIS programme.’ Commissioned by Teachers Union of Ireland. Which you can read here.
What’s on the horizon – Dates to note
Marcella is due to attend a Meeting with Bernard Gloster HSE Chief Executive as part of the Children's Rights Alliance (CRA) disability group. Topics that are due to be discussed include the long waiting times for services and supports for children presenting with complex needs.
On the 1st of April the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) are launching an important piece of research on the impact of the cost of living on low-income households, authored by Diarmaid Ó Ceallaigh, Lucie Martin, Shane Timmons, Deirdre Robertson and Pete Lunn. Issy will be part of the panel responding to the findings. The webinar is open for registration here.
In Early April Niamh and Louise will be attending the Cost of Education event, hosted by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless, TD. We will raise the issues members have recently shared at the education gathering and policy recommendations such as
Newsletter Feedback
We hope you have found this newsletter useful. 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 socialjustice@svpni@co.uk
