In March the EAPN Ireland Europe 2020 Working Group made a submission to the Department of the Taoiseach on Ireland’s National Reform Programme 2013. EU Member States submit their National Reform Programmes to the European Commission in April each year to outline their progress on achieving the 5 targets which were agreed as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Three of the targets relate to employment, education and poverty reduction.
The submission highlighted that policies that are being implemented are undermining Ireland’s commitment to reducing poverty with the number of people rising each year. It repeats the call for a balanced approach to be taken which gives social priorities an equal place to economic goals and that all policies must be proofed to assess their impact on poverty and social exclusion. Read the full submission here.
