Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty TD has hit out at the government after new statistics show that almost 103,000 children in Ireland are now living in consistent poverty.
The Child Poverty Monitor figure has risen by a staggering 45,107 in 2024 to 102,977 in 2025.
Key areas of concern are food poverty, income adequacy, education inequality and the high cost of living.
Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance said: “A childhood in poverty is one spent in cold, dark and damp housing, travelling hours just to get to school or knowing that there won’t be a hot dinner for the rest of the week. Thousands of families are being forced to live on such tight margins that they live in constant fear of their child needing a hospital visit or getting a letter home about the next school trip.”
Donegal Deputy Doherty says that the government’s “reckless” plans to pull cost-of-living supports this year will further hurt workers and families.
Teachta Doherty said: “The number of children living in poverty in this state doubled in just one year.
“That is the direct result of this government failing to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
“There is no justification for over 100,000 children living in poverty when billions of euros from the budget is going unspent every year.
“Those kids and families are at the harshest end of the cost-of-living crisis. But so many people are struggling as costs keep going up.
“Now, without doing anything to address sky-high prices across the board, this government is planning to pull cost-of-living supports. It’s as reckless as it is heartless.”
Commenting on the report, Ms Ward added that while 2025 saw significant advancements in universal supports for children, such as free school books, hot school meals, GP care for under-8s, and substantial childcare investment, these have unfortunately overshadowed the targeted measures needed to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, adding that “Budget 2026 has to focus on breaking the cycle.”
Deputy Doherty said: “We need targeted supports to tackle poverty and broader supports to help the majority of people that are seeing their wages vanishing and being pushed into debt.
“We have the means to look after people in this state. It’s time we started doing it.”
