'Children that are in poverty are one of the most vulnerable sectors in society' - Leitrim councillor

A Leitrim councillor has said that protecting vulnerable children is "the top of this list" when it comes to Budget 2026.

He was speaking after Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that child poverty will be prioritised in the forthcoming budget.

Cllr James Gilmartin stressed the point that one in five children in Ireland are at risk of poverty and "action now will hopefully break the cycle for future generations. If you grow up in poverty, you will have a lot more struggles in education and employment etc. I really think it's a welcome move and we need to keep focused on it. The whole thing is about protecting the most vulnerable and children that are in poverty, I feel, are one of the most vulnerable sectors in society and need to be looked after."

Mr Martin told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland this week: “I think you are looking at significant moves in terms of child support payment and in terms the working family payment, but also the development of a second-tier payment.

"But the Department of Social Protection are saying clearly to us, they're not yet in a position to develop such a payment, but that they will focus, obviously, and bring to government recommendations, which will be decided by three party leaders and the ministers for finance and public expenditure, along with social protection on issues to support low income families," he said.

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"Particularly through the child support payment and the working family payment and other measures that will be designed to target resources at those who are facing the greatest impact in terms of an undoubted cost of living situation, particularly in terms of cost of food and so forth."

“So that it will be a focus, particularly in terms of any income supports we can enhance for families with children with disabilities and for people generally who have a disability and then of course the broader issue of the carers allowance.”

Cllr Gilmartin said that he would be "very glad to see this; it's a long overdue move and it's very welcome. Child poverty is one of the most concerning and urgent social challenges we have in Ireland today and some of the measures mentioned will go directly towards low income families; they are talking about the working family payment and the enhanced child support payment. There is also talk of developing a second tier system which hopefully will prove beneficial to those most in need."

Mr Martin said that in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, inflation had spiked “very, very” significantly, which had to be dealt with through targeted measures “to bring those figures down" adding "we're going to target resources to children who are at greatest risk of poverty and who are in consistent poverty, and it's not just through the income mechanisms."

“In early education, we're again looking in terms of specific measures to target children in disadvantaged areas in terms of access to early education and child care facilities and also in terms of housing, specific mechanisms to enable families in emergency accommodation to come out more quickly out of emergency accommodation into housing.”

Mr Martin added that 25 per cent of the education budget now goes to children with special needs.

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Mr Gilmartin told us: "We are all aware of the cost of living and prices like groceries especially; you go to the shop and could spend €100 and carry it out with one hand. Those that have the least are the most affected so I welcome it but would also caution that we need to provide as much care as we can for these families."

He said that housing is another significant issue facing people currently and this needs to be tackled. "We have to make sure that children especially are given access to housing in their locality where they can attend their school."

He described the budget over all as "positive" stating that there are "other areas such as families with disabilities and other carers; they need to be looked after as they can often be the most economically vulnerable."