I will give the Minister some statistics which are truly shocking and a real indictment on our society. Some 760,000 people, one in six people and one in four children in the State, are living below the official poverty line. The poverty line is an income 60% below the median €27,000 a year, therefore, an income of €13,000 or less puts one below the poverty line. Some 110,000 people living below the poverty are in work. Just under a half of one-parent families suffer deprivation. One in 11 working lone parents were living below the poverty line in 2012 and, in 2017, it was one in five. Some 25% of those living below the poverty line do not have a medical card. Some 10,305 people are homeless, including 3,821 children, but everyone knows the figure is much higher. Just under 72,000 households are on the list for public housing but such housing does not exist. The figure would be much higher if account was taken of those people who transferred to the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme and were put on transfer lists: those people were taken off the official housing waiting list. One in five renters spends 40% of his or her income on rent. The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, cited figures this morning indicating it costs €1,200 per month, nationally, to rent, which is 20% higher than it has ever been. In Dublin, the cost is up at €1,700, which is 32% higher than it has ever been. I could go on. Some 194,000 additional people are on outpatient appointment waiting lists compared to 2015, which is an increase of more 50%, in a health service that does not work. The numbers waiting more than 18 months for treatment has risen by 715%. These are record levels. The Irish Patients Association's spokesperson stated this Government should look on this as a crisis.

Is this not a shocking and shameful situation in a wealthy country with a growing economy? Even leaving aside leprechaun GDP, we are in the top ten OECD countries. What I have given the Minister are statistics but behind each of those is a person, a child, a family and communities in deprived areas. On top of that, community groups are fearing a freeze on their funding in the forthcoming budget, having faced a cut of 40% during the past number of years and a loss of staff of 31%. They are seriously concerned about their ability to continue delivering services. I put it to the Minister that we have a poverty crisis to go along with our housing crisis and health crisis but there is no discussion about them or sense of urgency to address them. The Minister's party, Fine Gael, has been in a leading role in government for eight years and it seems it is prepared to accept this poverty, low wages, a housing shortage, rack-renting and a shambles of a health service as some sort of new norm for Irish society. Are the Minister and the Government not ashamed? Will they address these serious issues, particularly with a potential recession coming around the corner with, or without, a Brexit?

I am glad the Deputy raised these issues as it gives me an opportunity to set out the Government's commitment in this area. The Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, as the Deputy will know, has set reducing child poverty as her top issue within her Department. The evidence is there that very significant progress is being made. In 2013, the number of children living in consistent poverty was 12.7% and two years ago, in 2017, that percentage had fallen to 8.8%. There has been a reduction, even in those years, of 105,000 children living in consistent poverty. I have no doubt that since 2017, with improving investments in the economy, improving employment opportunities and the policy measures the Government has put in place, those figures will improve.

It is worth recalling some of those measures that are targeting people living in poverty. We have had significant improvement in the qualified child payments in our social welfare code which go to people on the lowest level of income. We have had increased provision for school meals and for school clothing and footwear allowances, again targeting children in greatest need. We have extended GP access and improved the family income supplement now known as the working family payment. Right across the area, particularly in education, of which I am aware, we have put big investments into childcare, under both the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh. We have strengthened the early childhood provisions, particularly targeting disadvantaged areas and improved support particularly for children with special educational needs who unfortunately are found in greater frequency in many of those disadvantaged areas. We have seen very substantial expansion of both special needs assistants and resource teachers to target those children. There is no doubt that early intervention is really important in continuing the battle against child poverty. I am confident the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, will continue to target this as a top priority for Government. We need to look at innovative policies. I was very pleased to see, among the policy approaches we are taking, clusters of schools in disadvantaged areas come together, for example, with the ARC project. Often children transferring from preschool to primary school can fall through the crevices. A very interesting initiative has been introduced in the constituency of Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, who is seated next to Deputy Joan Collins, to make sure children do not fall through the crevice in that transfer. A lot of good work is going on in this area and I can assure the Deputy we will continue to be committed to delivering more.

I thank the Minister for his reply. The figures I read out are from Society of St. Vincent De Paul, representatives of which appeared before the Joint Committee on Employment and Social Protection this morning for a prebudget meeting. Those figures are stark. The Minister mentioned a few projects and initiatives that have been introduced but they are not enough. What we need over the next one, two and three budgets is to take people out of poverty. That is crucial. We will face a recession in this country without or without a Brexit. Either way we need to invest and put a buffer around people who are the ones who suffered more under the austerity policies of Fianna Fáil from 2008 and under Fine Gael up to 2013 or so.

I repeat that the number of one-parent working families living in poverty has doubled since 2012 and 110,000 workers are living in poverty. The concept is that if one gets a job it will take one out of poverty, but unless one has decent wages and decent, unionised conditions, that situation will not change. I want to see a targeted approach. I will be watching the budget very closely to make sure it is gender, equality and climate changed checked. If it is not, I will come back to the Government again in the future.

I agree with the Deputy. It is important to acknowledge that progress is being made. A Deputy having listened to the Deputy's initial question would have thought no progress was being made. However, very significant progress is being made in reducing child poverty but it must be recognised there there are continuing problems, particularly among single parents and the low-paid at work.

The initiative brought in by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, uses that targeted payment to support low-income parents sending their children to professional preschool. We are seeing an increasing improvement in the quality of professional preschool provision. Deputy Broughan will know from his experience in the Darndale area how this intervention supports parents in those early years and has a significant and successful impact on children’s ability and performance and ability in education. The emphasis the Government has put on early intervention is important. I hope we can improve supports in this area. There will be constrained resources in the forthcoming budget but I believe, as does the Deputy, that reducing child poverty should be a high priority.

One in four children live below the poverty line. That is the reality. How are we going to change that?