This report was prepared in response to a request to the National Economic and Social Council by the Department of Social Community and Family Affairs (DSCFA), on behalf of the Inter- Departmental policy committee which provides the central strategic focus for the National Anti-Poverty Strategy. The request to the Council, in February 2000, was to carry out a review of these poverty proofing arrangements. This was a unique exercise for the Council, but fits well with two other reports currently being prepared by the Council: Benchmarking the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and National Progress Indicators for Sustainable Economic, Social and Environmental Development.

Each of these has been prepared in response to mandates in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and explicitly directed at improving information for policy and facilitating evidence-based policy making. This review also contributes to those objectives. The concluding recommendations are made in the knowledge that action directed towards achieving the effective functioning of the policy proofing process will have positive policy consequences for people living in poverty or at risk of poverty, but will also have broader positive consequences for the practice of evidence-based decision making.