Minister says no decision on future of Combat Poverty Agency before review

THE FUTURE of the Combat Poverty Agency will be not be decided until a review of the organisation is completed next month, according to Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin.

There has been growing speculation in political circles that the agency could be amalgamated into the department as part of a bid to cut costs at the department.

Ms Hanafin has voiced doubts over the role of the agency but she said she would not make a decision until she has seen a review of the agency.

"We'll wait and see what the review comes up with. There are areas where there is an overlap," she told The Irish Timesin a recent interview.

"This summer they organised a conference on educational disadvantage - I opened a conference on educational disadvantage three months ago by the National Education and Welfare Board. That's their remit. What's the point?"

Yesterday, the acting director of Combat Poverty Kevin O'Kelly insisted the organisation had a vital role to play in helping to provide a community focus for national anti-poverty policies.

He said the agency had met with the Minister in recent weeks and given a presentation on its plans for developing the organisation.

"It was an opportunity for an exchange of views. No decision has been made on our future remit. We do a lot of work that is below the radar and doesn't appear in the media, working with local authorities and communities to support the delivery of programmes and local targets," he said.

There has been growing support from politicians and lobby groups who have called for the agency to be saved from any spending cuts.

The Labour Party's spokeswoman on equality Kathleen Lynch TD said yesterday that any attempt to scrap the agency would represent an "attack on some of the most vulnerable members of society".

"The agency's work in the development of the national anti-poverty strategy, one of the most significant developments to take place over the past 20 years, has been particularly valuable," she said.

"The agency has continued to monitor and revise the strategy, and has played a crucial role in advising on the roll-out of the strategy at local level.

The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) also said there was a critical need for the agency at a time when unemployment levels are at their highest in 10 years.

"This is a time when new energy and focus needs to be given to this work.

"It is not a time for rolling back, particularly when it is people in poverty who will suffer," said Anna Visser, EAPN director.

"The agency has a critical role to play in generating innovative solutions to eradicating poverty, without which the government will not be able to meet its own target to eliminate consistent poverty by 2016."