Growing levels of food poverty ‘are indefensible’ – Newry MLA | Newry Times
SDLP MLA Justin McNulty has branded the growing levels of food poverty in Northern Ireland as ‘an abject failure of governance’.
A report from the Family Resources Survey highlighted that a tenth of children here are facing ‘food insecurity.’
The Newry and Armagh MLA commented, “Ever since the draconian imposition of Welfare Reform, the SDLP has warned that many households here would be pushed into food insecurity.
“The increasing reliance on foodbanks is evidence of the inherent failures of the Universal Credit roll-out.
“Now, individuals and families here have been hit a double blow with the pandemic resulting in an historic level of foodbank usage.
“Recent figures from the Family Resources Survey revealed that 1 in 10 children in Northern Ireland is living in ‘food insecure’ households.
“These children are not just suffering from the effects of poverty, but given the higher costs associated with ‘buying healthy’, they are also at greater risk of worse outcomes in terms of physical and mental health.
“These figures are a damning indictment of the DUP and Sinn Féin in Government, who have led the Executive here for over a decade.
He continued, “Evidently, ‘a fair and compassionate society’ as promised under New Decade, New Approach is fast slipping from the Executive’s grasp when households here are struggling to put food on the table.
“There is no greater signifier of failure in governance than the inability to provide for children, our most vulnerable citizens.
“While the DUP and Sinn Féin have been dithering, SDLP members from across the North have been delivering initiatives to tackle food poverty and making a difference in local communities.
The local MLA added, “Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey needs to urgently progress the Anti-Poverty Strategy and work with her Executive colleagues to immediately address this issue.”
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Posted by NewryTimes News
on Aug 31 2021. Filed under Politics.
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