In January 2017, the Knowledge Development Box Bill 2016 returned to the Seanad.
Following pressure from me at Committee Stage the Minister agreed to publish an annual report on outcomes of the measures implemented under the bill. However, I was disappointed that the Minister would not commit to providing the level of information we need to adequately scrutinise this measure. I was also disappointed that both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael voted against my amendments for Revenue to exchange information with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation around the cost to the exchequer of the measure and the tax forgone. My 'join the dots' amendment which proposed to track whether the Knowledge Development Box is linking up effectively with our wider innovation and employment strategy was also defeated.
Since introducing her Seanad Reform bill on the first sitting day of the Seanad in 2016, Senator Alice-Mary Higgins has consistently called for the implementation of Seanad Reform. She participated in the Seanad Reform Implementation Group which produced a report and recommendations in December 2018. In September 2019, she called on the Minister for Local Government and Electoral Reform to implement the recommendations in full.
Yesterday in the Seanad, a motion on poverty and social exclusion introduced by my Civil Engagement Group colleague Senator Lynn Ruane passed unanimously. I was delighted to co-sponsor this motion, as it not only highlights the real and unnecessary poverty and exclusion felt by many across society but lays out concrete measures the State could take to begin to address poverty seriously.
The motion acknowledged that in 2021, 11.6% of the population of Ireland, or 581,334 people, were living in poverty, of which 163,936 were children and also highlighted that the State has failed to achieve its target of reducing consistent poverty to 2% or less by 2020, and that previous targets in this regard have not been met on a consistent basis. It also acknowledges the closing down of the Combat Poverty Agency in 2009 as a regressive step.
In the course of the debate, my colleagues Senator Ruane and Senator Eileen Flynn made powerful speeches informed by lived experience and drove home the fact that to be in poverty is, in and of itself, very costly -- poverty imposes significant psychological, emotional and social costs on individuals, families and communities.
The motion lays out a number of progressive steps which Government should take to effectively fight the root causes of poverty in our society. These measures include: re-establishing an independent Combat Poverty Agency, or a similar independent statutory body, which is empowered and resourced to develop long-term anti-poverty strategies, carry out important research, and lead the Government’s anti-poverty response; supporting and resourcing ongoing independent research based on the Minimum Essential Standards of Living (MESL) and applying the learnings from this research in an ongoing analysis of policies relating to welfare payments and the development of a living wage; and carrying out research on the potential introduction of a Universal Basic Income for certain groups, in particular care leavers.
If you would like to read the debate, you can view it here: Poverty and Social Exclusion: Motion – Seanad Éireann (26th Seanad) – Wednesday, 19 Oct 2022 – Houses of the Oireachtas. Our Group will be following up with the Government on these measures and advocating for their implementation.