The Government's 10-year plan to eradicate consistent poverty ignores the thousands of "working poor" who are at risk of hardship and deprivation, according to Cori (Conference of Religious of Ireland) Justice.
Consistent poverty is a measure developed by the ESRI to determine the number of people who are regularly deprived of items considered necessary for a basic standard of living. This includes going without a substantial meal or heating due to a lack of money.
Official figures estimate that almost 140,000 people - or onequarter of people deemed to be at risk of poverty - live in a household headed by a person who has a job. However, Fr Seán Healy said in a detailed critique that the plan was disappointing and lacked ambition.
"The total failure of the plan to address the risk of poverty of the working poor is most regrettable. The failure to set out effective initiatives, targets and time frames to address this group's poverty is not acceptable," Fr Healy said.
He said the lack of ambition is most apparent in areas such as literacy, where the plan aims to reduce illiteracy among people of working age to 10-15 per cent by 2016. Fr Healy said this was a "frightening level" of illiteracy when put in the context of the job market in the years ahead.
Cori Justice acknowledged and welcomed that poverty has been falling significantly in recent years, but insisted that the levels were still too high.
For example, the number of people at risk of poverty has fallen from 21.9 per cent in 2001 to 18.5 per cent in 2005. But Cori Justice said this means more than 750,000 people are still at risk of poverty.
"If Ireland cannot tackle poverty and social exclusion effectively in the present economic circumstances, it will never do so," said Fr Healy. "We are disappointed that more challenging targets and time frames were not included in the plan."
The Government's National Action Plan on Social Inclusion pledges to eliminate consistent poverty by 2016, but does not set targets for reducing the number of people at risk of poverty. The Government says this method would not be a reliable indicator in a fast-growing economy.
Relative poverty, or the "at risk of poverty" indicator, identifies those with an income below 60 per cent of the median income threshold for society as a whole, who as a result are regarded as being at risk of poverty.
The Government points to progress which saw at least 250,000 people - including 100,000 children - lifted out of deprivation and hardship over the last decade.