The widening gap between rich and poor in a time of prosperity is one of Ireland's greatest scandals, the Conference of Religious of Ireland has claimed.
The CORI Justice Commission in a briefing document published today calls for a radical policy change to reduce the gap and for the Government to make the necessary changes immediately.
The document entitled Poverty, Low Pay and Social Welfare claimed the Government over its four budgets had systematically widened the gap between the better off and those with the lowest incomes, whether these were in low-paid jobs or in receipt of social welfare payments.
Tackling poverty effectively demanded action on many fronts ranging from healthcare to accommodation, from education to employment, the document states. However, the most important requirement in tackling poverty was the provision of sufficient income to people to enable them to live life with dignity.
When a country had the required resources, it stood indicted if it chose to allocate them in a way that did not ensure that every person had the minimum required. It stood doubly indicted when it chose, instead, to allocate the bulk of the available resources to those were already better off.
"That is what Ireland has chosen to do in the past four years. In summary it has chosen to betray its poorest people," the document stated. It urged the Government to provide all with sufficient income to live life with dignity.
There were many things that were positive in Ireland today, it said, but despite being one of the richest countries in the EU the issue of poverty and social exclusion had not been addressed effectively. It acknowledged there had been progress on some fronts, most notably in job creation.