The grinding poverty that affects some families in this State is such an insult to our way of life that we are reluctant to recognise it. Some wealthy individuals have insulated themselves so effectively behind tax avoidance shelters and lavish life styles that they deliberately blot it out. Many more, when confronted by it, blame the Government.
But the Government does what is politically expedient. And, so far, it has been easier to make crude cuts than to provide for basic standards of care.
During the past few days, organisations like the St Vincent de Paul and Threshold have pleaded with the new Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen, to undo recent wrongs when he publishes the 2005 Estimates next week. Specifically, they requested that a series of cutbacks at the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs be reversed. And they sought an increase in the provision for social housing.
The former minister for finance, Mr McCreevy, decreed last year that savings of €58 million had to be made at the Department as part of a process to bring Government spending under control. The result was horrendous. A total of 16 welfare schemes were filleted. Widows, widowers and lone parents had their special entitlements revoked. Rent supplements were reduced and made more difficult to obtain. Back-to-education allowances and creche supports were cut. And community employment schemes were affected. But, because these groups were the most deprived and least vocal in society, it took months for their plight to receive the attention it deserved. As the local elections approached, the Government reversed a decision to withdraw benefits from widows, widowers and lone parents. But most of the other impositions remained.
The vice-president of the St Vincent de Paul, Professor John Monaghan, described the coming Estimates as an "acid test" of the Government's recent commitment to a more caring society. The organisation has lobbied for a reversal of the cuts, along with an improvement in welfare and employment supports and action on social housing and educational disadvantage. In much the same vein, the director of Threshold, Mr Patrick Burke, called for the restrictions on rent supplement qualifications and payments to be reversed and for 10,000 new social housing units to be built next year.
There are indications Mr Cowen is tending towards the production of a cautious Budget. So be it. But as Irish society continues to undergo rapid change, inequality and poverty must be tackled in order to preserve social cohesion.