Mags GarganA cleric at the forefront of social justice campaigning has accused the Government of further excluding people who are already clinging to the margins of society in a new review of State policy.
A review of Government policies released by Social Justice Ireland this week, which analyses how Ireland is performing on reaching its national targets under the Europe 2020 Strategy, concludes that insufficient attention has been given to key problematic issues such as skills deficits, under-employment, the precarious nature of many work contracts and persistently high levels of long-term unemployment.
“Current trends in Irish public policy are running counter to the promotion of ‘inclusive growth,’ which is one of the three key priorities which underlie the Europe 2020 Strategy,” said Fr Seán Healy, Director of Social Justice Ireland.
Growth
“Inclusive growth is not just about fostering a high-employment economy, it also aims to deliver social cohesion – it is integral to the Europe 2020 Strategy and needs to be integral to the response of the Irish Government.”
The review shows that Ireland’s employment rate is 9% lower than the Europe 2020 Strategy target, with only five years left to bridge this gap. Almost one in four young people are unemployed and the number of people with jobs who are in poverty (the ‘working poor’) remains at very high levels.