A DONEGAL Senator has
called for the introduction of free meals and books
to help cash-strapped families.
Senator Pearse Doherty was responding to news that
plans to eradicate child poverty have stalled due to
problems in identifying those most in need.
“Tackling child poverty must be a top priority for
the Government and while I recognise the
difficulties in targeting those most in need this
does not mean that everything must come to a
standstill," said the Sinn Féin senator. "There are
measures that can be taken while a strategy to
target those children most at risk is devised."
He suggested the 'intermediary measure' of
introducing a school meals programme and a system to
deliver free school books to all children.
"This would help to alleviate the pressures faced by
many parents who are struggling to meet the rising
costs of educating their children.
“If the Government is genuinely serious about
tackling child poverty then it must re-look at its
current childcare policy with a view to reversing
the current trend which has seen many
community-based childcare providers close down."
He said the new Government policy had led to hose on
low and middle incomes pulling their children out of
childcare facilities as they could not afford the
payments without Government assistance.
"This has had a knock-on effect on the provider as
they are provided with a staffing grant linked to
the numbers of children in the crèche. As the number
of children in the crèche falls the provider loses
more funding and many are having to close down
altogether." |
