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SVP volunteers visit thousands of families every week across Ireland, seeing first hand the reality of living on a low income and being unable to access or afford services like housing and childcare. Below is the Society's Pre-Budget Submission 2018 "Bridging the Gap". In the submission we have covered four key areas for the Government to prioritise.
More action is urgently needed to address the unacceptable high levels of child poverty. As well as increased investment in affordable, quality services; SVP wants to see an improvement in income supports for children and families in Budget 2018.
Ireland remains in the grip of a housing and homelessness crisis, exacerbated by the acute shortage of social and affordable housing. Increasing rents and shortage of accommodation is leading to situations of economic homelessness as the private rental sector is moving further out of reach for low income and increasingly average income families. Increased investment in the building and acquiring of social housing units is needed as a matter of urgency.
Everyone deserves a home that they can afford to heat and light, and that is of an adequate standard. With over a quarter of households continuing to live in energy poverty, more needs to be done to improve the energy efficiency of houses in the private rental sector and to engage those eligible for energy efficiency schemes.
Underinvestment in our education system is prohibiting too many children, young people and second chance learners from reaching their potential. SVP calls on Government to value and prioritise investment in our education system, based on the transformative effect it has on people who experience poverty and disadvantage.
