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Welcome to the Social Justice Team Newsletter
Hello, we are back with the second monthly edition of the social justice team newsletter. Since you're reading this, we hope it’s a sign that the first newsletter was worth your while.
This month 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 done in the month. We had lots of feedback from our first newsletter, thank you to those who took the time to contact us, we’ve included more details of the feedback received and our responses below in the feedback section.
One standout suggestion we received from a member, was for people who enjoy the newsletter to forward it on to someone they know who might be interested in the work we do at SVP. This would be a great chance for us to reach out to new people and share what social justice issues we are working on, and what SVP does to tackle inequality. We hope you enjoy the read
In this issue
Speak Up
On the 1st of April the ESRI launched an important report: ‘The response of low-income households to the cost-of-living crisis in Ireland’ and Issy from the Social Justice team was part of the panel responding to the new research.
The launch webinar can be viewed, here and the full report is available here.
On the 13th of April, Louise was on RTE Radio 1 discussing support for people with the removal of energy credits. Listen here.
Louise contributed to an article in the Irish Times, about the tensions the growing wealth gap can cause in relationships “We’re reluctant to discuss it, but wealth disparity can cause serious tension in relationships”
Submissions
We responded to an invitation from the Low Pay Commission to share a short submission on our priorities for the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate for 2026.
This is a key year for the NMW rate as the policy trajectory was set for it to reach a ‘National Living Wage’ (NLW) rate of 60% of median earnings by 2026. We made the point that for workers to be able to pay for the essentials of a decent life, the NMW/NLW rate must take account of the actual cost of living as measured by the MESL. It is also essential that the government increases all earnings disregards and income thresholds in line with the NMW rate.
Policy in Focus
Louise has put together a policy update for Child Maintenance. Read the full update here.
Behind The Scenes
Housing
On the 30th of April Marcella and Louise met with the Minister responsible for Housing, Minister James Browne. We raised our concerns about the growth of homeless figures, highlighting the high one parent family figures.
We recommended that the department review the Housing for All targets and the steps that are needed to create an effective end to homelessness by 2030 strategy. As well as the sustainability of HAP, the support that needs to be put in place for Children in Emergency Accommodation and our concerns about the Tenant in Situ Scheme. The full details and data raised can be read here.
Energy: Commission for the Regulation of Utilities’ (CRU) Consumer Stakeholder Group
On the 28th of April we attended the CRU’s regular Consumer Stakeholder Group. The discussion focused on two themes: the impact of Storm Éowyn and the situation for customers with gas and electricity arrears and how the Regulator can best support them. This is a key area of advocacy for us that will continue to be a focus in the lead up to next Winter.
Public Early Childhood and Education Alliance
On the 2nd of April, as part of the Alliance for Public Early Childhood Education and Care, Marcella met with Claire Kerrane Sinn Fein TD and Spokesperson on Children and Youth in Leinster House. One of the aims of our campaign to deliver a Public System of Early Childhood Education and Care is to meet with all government parties.
We attended the meeting with the National Women’s Council and the Irish Traveller Women’s Forum. We shared the many ways we support children living in low-income households to access and participate fully in early childhood education and care settings. We had a good discussion on how the Alliance with the support of political parties can move forward to implementation and ensure that every child is guaranteed a statutory right to ECEC.
West Region Members Day
Marcella delivered a presentation to Conference members at the West Regional Members Day in Claremorris on Sunday 6th April. Members in attendance were delighted to hear of the mutual success between visitation members and social justice on a range of policy issues. For example, the introduction of free school books, child benefit for those over 18 and still in 2nd level education and the exclusion of child maintenance from social welfare assessments; they are all mutual areas of success and achievements by visitation members and social justice for the benefit of the households we support and which we should be proud of! To view the full presentation and see more of our mutual successes, click here.
On the day, we met with the Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary TD. Following on from this meeting, the President of SVP, Rose McGowan, and members of the Social Justice team will meet with Minister Calleary and his officials on May 1st to discuss our policy and legislative proposals to help and support households that we visit living on a low and inadequate incomes.
North Region Yearbook
This month SVP’s Northern Region Yearbook for 2024 was published, reviewing key activities and the contribution of Members over the last year. On page 63 you can find an update on our Social Justice activities throughout 2024 within Northern Ireland, including the advocacy of our Northern Region Social Justice Chair, Gerardine Cunningham. The yearbook can be found here.
Cost of Education – Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
In early April we attended the cost of education event, held by the department of further and higher education, research, innovation and science.
This was an opportunity for the department to present the work that they were doing and hear from the wide spectrum of those involved in access and equality in the higher and further education sector, people from universities, community colleges, students and those of us who provide support to students were in attendance. It was an opportunity for us to feedback to the department on what policy's we thought should developed to support students in need. They created an environment of genuine engagement and desire to hear from people. The team kindly shared their presentation slides with us afterwards, to read them click here.
Zero Tolerance on Gender-Based Violence
We were invited by the Dublin Central Women’s Group to the launch of their Zero Tolerance of Violence Against Women, we wanted to provide support to this local campaign, it was a packed venue in Dublin 1, where we heard voices supporting women in the community who are experiencing gender based violence and coercive control. To learn more about the campaign, click here.
A Student's Insight to Social Justice at SVP
We were able to give some time to Aev, who will be starting her studies in social policy and politics’ this year. Aev wanted to know more about how SVP influences social policy in Ireland. Showing students what we do is a great way to spread our message with younger people and give them real insight into the work, we are limited in our time and capacity to give shadowing day.
“Before my time with the social justice team, I had an idea of the main aim of social justice, creating a more equal and equitable societal system, but I was slightly unsure of how this was executed. Since coming into the SVP social justice team, this has become much clearer. At St Vincent De Paul, they advocate for individuals - from single parents to primary school students to people struggling to heat their homes- by listening to community feedback to make people feel seen and listened to.
This is the most important step in making real, tangible change. The work I saw in the office was inspiring; the amount of time and effort that went into the meticulous calculations and research to shape the considered annual submissions to the government astounded me. It was fascinating to speak to individual research and policy officers, Niamh and Marcella, about their personal perspectives and progress within the social justice team as well as seeing some of their own pieces of work to create societal benefit. Finally, I was privileged enough to meet Louise Bayliss, the Head of Social Justice and Policy, and learn more about the overall missions and aims of the department.
The whole experience showed me how committed St Vincent De Paul is to improving the lives of people in need in Ireland and opened my eyes to the hard work that goes into writing and releasing pieces of social policy. My visit to the Social Justice team has left me inspired and I hope that I can work with the same amount of consideration and selflessness someday.” Aev Lari
What’s on the horizon – Dates to note
Social Protection
We will be meeting with the Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary TD, on the 1st of May, where we will raise the importance of strong poverty reduction targets and the policy developments needed to lift people out of poverty.
On May 8th, we will be attending the Social Inclusion forum with the Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary, where we will be consulting on the new 'Roadmap for Social Inclusion'. Louise will be facilitating the workshop on families and children.
Housing
Social Justice are organising as part of the Irish Homeless Policy migrant sub-group two panel discussions in the AV Room in Leinster House on May 20th. The event will highlight the challenges and barriers experienced by families seeking family reunification in Ireland, and the challenges for people with status who were requested to leave direct provision, some of whom have experienced homelessness as a result. In attendance will be people with lived experience of the issues, members and staff of Leinster House and the Seanad, and NGO and civil society organisations working with migrants.
Early Years. Public Early Childhood Education and Care
On the 1st of May at 1pm outside Leinster House the Alliance for Public Early Childhood Education and Care will hold a demonstration. For more information, click here
Newsletter Feedback
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
We had some very positive feedback from Members and external partners. It was great for everyone involved to hear from you. Thanks to those who got in touch. We’ll continue to share the feedback and updates in future newsletters.
If you’d like to provide feedback about this newsletter please email, socialjustice.newsletter@svp.ie
