Press release
Minister O’Brien hosts the Department of Social Protection’s annual Social Inclusion Forum
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
The annual Social Inclusion Forum is being held today, Wednesday 22 June, at the Bracken Court Hotel, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. This event brings together policy makers, service providers and service users from across government departments, NGOs, community and voluntary sector groups and representatives of people experiencing poverty and/or social exclusion, to discuss and debate national policy on poverty reduction and social inclusion.
This year’s Forum is again focused on the government’s Roadmap for Social Inclusion, 2020-2025. The Forum includes 4 workshops on key Roadmap themes – income adequacy, social inclusion and children, social inclusion and people with disabilities, and supporting communities – with facilitators from the community and voluntary sector, and presentations from expert practitioners.
Joe O’Brien, Minister of State with responsibility for Social Inclusion in the Department of Social Protection, is hosting the event.
Minister O’Brien stated:
“As Minister with responsibility for the Roadmap for Social Inclusion I am pleased to have the opportunity to engage with everyone today, both those attending in-person and those attending virtually. The Social Inclusion Forum allows for constructive engagement between government departments, people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and the community and voluntary sector groups representing them. I’m particularly glad to see the active participation of all those present, and to have the opportunity to listen to the different workshops and engage in the panel discussion. Today’s Forum gives Government the means to hear about the lived experience behind the statistics.
“The Roadmap for Social Inclusion contains ambitious targets for poverty reduction and given the current pressures on families and households we must make it a priority that Budget 2023 significantly closes the inequality gap. I genuinely believe there will be strong public solidarity for a budget that not only keeps people out of poverty but also actively lifts people out of poverty and with a specific focus on protecting children from the lifelong detrimental impacts of a poverty.”
A report on the Forum will be published and made available on the Department of Social Protection’s website on gov.ie/dsp.