Minister Calleary highlights the importance of the Department of Social Protection’s annual Social Inclusion Forum
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 13 Bealtaine 2025
The Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary acknowledged the importance of the annual Social Inclusion Forum in contributing to national policy on social inclusion. The event which was held last week, brought together policy makers, service providers and service users from across government departments, people experiencing poverty and/or social exclusion and the community and voluntary groups that represent them, to discuss and debate national policy on poverty reduction and social inclusion.
The Department of Social Protection organised the Forum in partnership with the European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland and Community Work Ireland.
The Forum focused on the delivery of the government’s Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025. The theme of the event was on ‘Reflecting on the Past and Informing the Future of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion’. This theme provided an opportunity to build on the progress made by the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025, and previous strategies dating back to 1997.
The process of developing a successor to the Roadmap has commenced with a full public consultation which was launched in April 2025 and runs until the end of June 2025. The Forum event forms part of the consultation process for the new strategy and elicited views on the development of the strategy from attendees on the day.
The Forum included five workshops on the following themes – supporting people with disabilities, supporting communities, families and children, supporting older people and Traveller and Roma communities – with presentations from expert practitioners.
Commenting on the forum, Minister Calleary said:
“The Social Inclusion Forum is a key event in the government’s calendar, providing an important platform for meaningful engagement between government departments, individuals experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and the community and voluntary sector organisations that support them. I look forward to learning from the experiences shared by participants and to considering the Forum’s report, which plays a valuable role in shaping future policy making.”
Speaking about the consultation for the new Roadmap for Social Inclusion Minister Calleary added:
“The new Roadmap is central to embedding social inclusion at the heart of public policy and service delivery across all government departments and agencies.
"The Programme for Government reaffirms our commitment to tackling poverty and social exclusion, and the Roadmap will be a vital instrument in achieving this objective."
Professor Katriona O’Sullivan, author of the best-selling book Poor, provided the Keynote Address at the Forum with an inspirational speech on addressing poverty and improving inclusion in Ireland.
A common theme that emerged throughout the day was the importance of partnership – with the event partners: European Anti-Poverty Network and Community Work Ireland – with the Community and Voluntary Pillar through the Social Inclusion Forum, the Carer’s Forum, the pre-Budget Forum, Budget submissions, the post-Budget Forum and regular meetings with the Community and Voluntary Pillar. There was a significant presence at the Social Inclusion Forum by the stakeholders involved in representing marginal and vulnerable groups with 5 workshops shedding light on the challenges being faced and potential solutions for the future.
Significant progress has been achieved in poverty reduction and improved social inclusion in Ireland over many years through working together in partnership.
The onus from the Social Inclusion Forum was that the future Roadmap for Inclusion Strategy must continue the progress in poverty alleviation, Ireland has made over the past 20 years and over the lifetime of the new Strategy specifically, and target and support those most at risk of poverty.
A report on the Forum will be published and made available on the Department of Social Protection’s website.
Notes
The ‘Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025: Ambition, Goals, Commitments’ was approved by Government and published in January 2020. The primary ambition of the Roadmap is to “reduce consistent poverty to 2% or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU.”
The Roadmap translates this ambition into 7 Goals underpinned by 81 commitments (actions) that will be taken to help deliver these goals.
Out of the 81 commitments contained within the Roadmap at the end of 2024:
- 59 commitments were fully achieved or achieved with ongoing delivery;
- 3 further commitments were in progress on schedule with ongoing delivery; and
- 19 commitments were in progress
The Forum also provided space for delegates to discuss their views on the challenges Ireland faces, and the policy responses required. The report of the Forum - which will be circulated to all government departments, to various stakeholders and to the public generally – will provide valuable input as the insights, conclusions and recommendations of the Forum are fed into the policymaking process and are available to all stakeholders.