The Ulster Unionist Party has called on the First and deputy First Ministers to publish an action plan for tackling child poverty given that they failed to achieve previously set targets.

 Party Leader and Chair of the OFMdFM Committee, Mike Nesbitt MLA said:

 “Child poverty is a very serious issue for Northern Ireland as the levels of poverty in areas of this country make for frightening reading.  Children who are living in poverty here are being let down by the Office of the First and deputy First Minister who are falling far short of the targets which were laid out in the Child Poverty Strategy.’

 “We have a population where some 40,000 children are living in severe poverty; this is totally unacceptable.  The First and deputy First Ministers need to show that they are serious about tackling child poverty and the continual late delivery of strategies and updates is an on-going issue.’

 “In Northern Ireland there is an obsession with drawing up endless strategies of how to deal with problems, but rarely do we see plans for delivery.  There have been calls for the Executive to seek additional funds, we don’t need to do that; we need to utilise the money that we have available.’ 

 “We have a Social Investment Fund which has £80million in the bank to deal with social deprivation and our most poverty stricken areas over the next four years, yet nothing has been spent in years one or two and the First Minister has recently told us the Fund administrators need another three or four months to devise area plans.  The £12million for the Childcare Strategy also still remains untouched.  This was a fund set up to empower people who cannot afford to work because of the cost of private sector child care; the very people whose children are living in poverty.  Why are we not utilising the money which is already available?’

 “We need to be truthful about the scale of the child poverty problem facing us and how long it is going to take it fix it.  In order to help those children who are worst affected by poverty and deliver real outcomes we have to move away from devising strategies and towards plans for action.”