In 2023, a special team called the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office was created to help children in Ireland who don’t have enough money or support to live happy, healthy lives. This team works with lots of different parts of the Government to find ways to make things better for children and their families. The team made a plan called From Poverty to Potential, which focuses on six important areas to support families and children:
1 Help families who need more money and make sure they have enough to buy what they need.
2 Make sure there are enough spaces in crèches, playschools and afterschool clubs where kids can go to play, learn, make friends and have fun.
3 Make it easier for families to buy things that children need for school like books, lunches and uniforms.
4 Make sure that every child has a home and to stop families from becoming homeless. We want to make sure that homeless families can get a new home as soon as possible.
5 All children are different, and they need different things. We want families to be able to easily find out who can help them. Sometimes it can be hard for families to get the help they need because different services are not working together. We want to change that.
6 Help children take part in activities outside of school like art, music and sports without worrying about how much it costs.