268. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the implementation of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37516/24]

The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 is a whole of Government strategy with the ambitious aim to reduce consistent poverty to 2 per cent or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive member states in the EU. The latest available data shows that significant progress has been made in this regard during the lifetime of the Roadmap, data from the 2023 Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC), which was published in March of this year, shows that the consistent poverty rate fell from 4.9% in 2022 to 3.6% in 2023, this represents the lowest rate of consistent poverty on record.

The Roadmap was published in January 2020 and contains seven high level goals, delivered by 81 unique commitments (revised from 69 commitments after a mid-term review). Implementation of Roadmap commitments is well underway with many either fully achieved or close to completion and work ongoing in relation to the remainder. At the end of June 2024, 54 Roadmap commitments were either fully achieved or achieved with ongoing delivery, with delivery on the remaining 27 commitments in progress.

The first three Progress Reports on the implementation of Roadmap commitments are available on gov.ie, covering the progress made over the period January 2020 to June 2023. These are accompanied by Report Cards detailing progress on each Roadmap commitment. The fourth Progress Report and Report Card, covering the period of July 2023 to June 2024, is currently being prepared.

The Social Inclusion Roadmap Steering Group, which I chair, oversees progress on implementation of Roadmap commitments. It comprises senior representatives of responsible Departments and three external members from the Community and Voluntary Sector. The Government is fully committed to the implementation of the Roadmap. I will continue to drive delivery of the remaining commitments to ensure that no-one is left behind in the ongoing implementation of this vital national strategy.