The Children's Service Manager of a leading charity in Fermanagh has warned that "there is a disconnect between the urgency and levels of need in our communities and the level of prioritisation afforded by decision-makers to tackle it".  

Paul Kellagher addressed Stormont’s Committee for Communities last week highlighting the dire situation of child poverty in Northern Ireland and the systemic issues contributing to it.

Mr. Kellagher works for Action for Children in Enniskillen and was among those addressing the committee. Reflecting on the evidence which spans 15 pages, he said: “At Action for Children the evidence we gathered for our recent research on barriers to work reflects the discussions I have every day with my staff teams in our services in Fermanagh.

“Young people and families simply cannot afford the essentials and work their way out of this hardship.

“All of us need support systems, and social security is supposed to provide a baseline of dignity for when life gets challenging.”

The briefing emphasises that current benefits are well below the necessary level to cover basic living costs. The two-child limit and benefit cap have disproportionately affected families with children, especially larger families in Northern Ireland. Cuts to benefits and a lack of adjustment for inflation have worsened the situation, the report suggests."

Reflecting on this Mr. Kellagher said: “At a minimum, we believe it needs to provide enough income to afford the essentials and, at the moment, that’s simply not the case for too many people we see in our services and beyond. Until it does, we see that people get stuck is a stressful cycle and face multiple, complex barriers to overcoming the challenges they are facing.  “We know we all benefit when less people are struggling in our society and investing properly in the social security system is the most effective way of achieving that.”

The report details challenges such as High Child Poverty Rates and shows that 1 in 4 children in Northern Ireland live in poverty. It also analysis the impact on Children in Care. The briefing highlighted the story of a young person who, due to delays in Universal Credit, lived on rice and beans.

Another key issue it addresses is the barriers to employment for families.

Mr. Kellagher is hopeful that the Northern Ireland Executive could launch an anti-poverty strategy sooner rather than later but is concerned at the lack of urgency from politicians in introducing it. 

He said: “Whilst we acknowledge, with hope, the recent indication by the Minister for Communities that he intends to launch an Anti-Poverty Strategy in January next year, we remain concerned that at all levels of government, whether in Westminster or Stormont, there is a disconnect between the urgency and levels of need in our communities and the level of prioritisation afforded by decisionmakers to tackling it.  

“We feel that most recently, this is demonstrated at the local level by an absence of clear commitment to Anti-Poverty targets or cross-Executive vision in the immediate priorities identified in the recently published draft Programme for Government.”