European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland: Newsflash July 2021

EAPN Ireland News 

Basic Necessities Working Group- Briefing Note

The Working Group for Basic Necessities, which is coordinated by EAPN Ireland, published a briefing note, “Addressing the Problem of Income Inadequacy and Meeting Basic Needs”, highlighting the link between income inadequacy and the increasing demand from people for basic necessities as provided by the Community and Voluntary sector. The briefing note reveals how low-income households are being forced to make difficult choices, such as paying rent and utility bills, leaving little remaining income for other expenses. As a result, people are having to rely on supports provided by charities and community organisations in order to meet basic needs. This type of material deprivation represents a high level of inequality across Ireland. The briefing suggests a series of recommendations for the Government in order to address income inadequacy and poverty.

EAPN Ireland Pre-budget Submission
Please find enclosed the EAPN Ireland pre-budget submission for 2022. EAPN Ireland is calling for income adequacy, decent jobs, and investment in affordable quality public services, in order to ensure that Ireland has a post pandemic recovery based on equality and social inclusion.

EAPN Ireland Blog
“Government describes evidence-based policy making as referring to …. analysis of policy choices based on objective evidence and research. This is achieved through ensuring both that high quality empirical evidence is available and accessible, and also that this evidence is used to inform the policy-making process. No mention is made of how or by whom this evidence is selected.”  Written by EAPN Ireland Board member, Aiden Lloyd EAPN Ireland has published a new blog on our EAPN Ireland website entitled “Evidence based policy separating Science and Codology”. You can read the blog here.

Members News:

Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund Report Launch
COVID-19 has been a seismic global event; its impact has been gendered. The National Women’s Council Ireland in partnership with Rethink Ireland invites you to their publication launch ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Economic Mobility: Insights drawn from the Mná na hÉireann, Women of Ireland Fund’ . You can register for the event here.

EAPN Europe News:

Voice from the Ground- EAPN Video Series
What’s more important than hearing first-hand accounts of poverty by People Experiencing Poverty (PeP)! Europe is experiencing a new social crisis which requires a poverty vaccine. A series of six videos will explain the five ingredients needed for the vaccine as well as highlighting personal experiences relating to poverty, especially during the pandemic. Find out further information here.

Respect the Promises made to European Workers/ Social Platform and ETUC  
In response to the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) meeting on 14 June, Social Platform and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urge EU ministers to demonstrate their full political support for the proposed directive on adequate minimum wages. The joint statement reiterates that now is the time for governments to take responsibility, to build a more resilient, socially just and inclusive Europe. Read the joint statement here.

Welcoming the Adoption of the Child Guarantee/EAPN and EU Alliance for Investing in Children
The EPSCO Council welcomes the adoption of the Council Recommendation establishing the European Child Guarantee. EAPN jointly released a statement welcoming this vital development for the continent’s most vulnerable children. The work is not over however, meaning Member States must take the coming months to develop their national Child Guarantee Action Plans alongside the programming for the next seven-year financial framework. You can read more here.

Boss Project | EAPN Member Collab
The BOSS – Building a Network to Boost Social Secure Europe project, aims to tackle poverty and social exclusion through an established quality framework. On May 25th, the opening BOSS conference was held virtually. The overall theme of the Conference was ‘Building a network of Civil Society Organisations that will promote Social Inclusion Strategies: Benefits and Difficulties.’  A number of EAPN network took part, including EAPN Cyprus, EAPN Norway, EAPN Romania and EAPN Greece. Further information can be found here.

EU Institution News:

Conference on the Future of Europe | Civil Society Convention 
The multilingual digital platform of the Conference on the Future of Europe is now live. This is your opportunity to speak up, to say what kind of Europe you want to live in, to help shape our future. In addition, the Civil Society Convention was invited to the nominate 5 representatives to the Conference Plenary, which took place on 19 June. This demonstrates the role that civil society organisations, like EAPN, have to play in helping to shape the future of the continent. Further information can be found here.