Mixed progress on social inclusion

The Department of Social Protection is due to publish a successor to the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 on 27 May 2026, setting out the State’s direction on poverty reduction and equality for the second half of the decade.

The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025, is the Government’s framework aimed at reducing deprivation, making Ireland “one of the most socially inclusive countries in the European Union”, and lowering the rate of consistent poverty to 2 per cent or less.

It is expected that the next plan must respond to a dramatically altered social and economic landscape. The existing roadmap was drafted before the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy shock triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the sharp rise in housing and living costs that dominated much of the period.

When it was launched in early 2020, the 2020-2025 roadmap outlined an aim of reducing the rate of consistent poverty to 2 per cent or less and to place Ireland among the strongest performers in Europe on a wide set of social indicators.

It translated that ambition into dozens of commitments spread across employment, income supports, childcare, disability, housing, health, and community participation. In total, more than 80 actions were attached to government departments and agencies.

By the end of 2025, the Department of Social Protection reported that 59 commitments had been completed or were in place on an ongoing basis, with the remaining 22 still in progress.

That represents substantial administrative movement, and the Government has consistently pointed to reforms such as the expansion of childcare subsidies, labour market activation measures, increases in core welfare rates, and new disability and housing initiatives as evidence of delivery.

Consistent poverty

On the central metric, Ireland did see long-term improvement across the lifespan of successive anti-poverty plans dating back to the late 1990s. Consistent poverty fell to a historic low of 3.6 per cent in 2023. However, the 2 per cent target has not been reached, and the rate increased again in 2024.

The rise in consistent poverty can be linked to the post-Covid cost-of-living rise, with significant increases having been recorded in the prices of rent, energy, and food. In addition, a number of pandemic income supports that had temporarily boosted household finances have since been ended by the Government.

EU comparison targets

The roadmap also sought to push Ireland into the top tier of EU performers on measures such as the proportion of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, income distribution, and deprivation.

Absolute improvements were recorded on many of these indicators in the early years of the strategy. Severe material deprivation, for instance, declined from pre-roadmap levels.

But Ireland’s relative ranking is influenced by how other countries perform, not just domestic change. Maintaining or improving a top-five position proved challenging as other member states also advanced or, in some cases, moved more quickly.

Persistent gaps

Another recurring theme across the period was that headline averages often masked stubborn inequalities.

Traveller and Roma communities, people with disabilities, those unable to work due to long-term illness, lone-parent households, and many renters continued to experience poverty rates significantly above the national average.

Stakeholder groups involved in the mid-term review of the roadmap argued that while strategies and reports multiplied, delivery did not always translate into lived improvements, particularly in housing supply and income adequacy.

They also warned that full employment at national level does not automatically mean an inclusive labour market, with discrimination and caring responsibilities still limiting access for some.

The successor strategy will therefore land in a more complex climate than the one its predecessor envisaged.

While the economy continues to perform relatively well and the State’s public finances are in a strong position, affordability remains a significant challenge.

Housing costs in Ireland are among the highest in the EU, at over double the EU average, and property prices and rents have continued upward trends in recent years. Despite this, measures of housing cost burden show Ireland somewhat below EU averages on some affordability ratios, although for these trends to not apply for people under the age of 40.

On broader cost-of-living concerns, 84 per cent of Irish adults report being worried about meeting household costs, with energy and food prices contributing to continued household strains.

Furthermore, recorded hate crimes and hate-related incidents in Ireland have risen in recent years, with official Garda data showing an increase from 651 incidents in 2023 to 676 in 2024, and anti-race motives forming around 39 per cent of cases. Hate crime incidents have also increased by 24 per cent since 2021.

There will also be scrutiny of whether the Government retains the 2 per cent consistent poverty ambition or attempts to reframe success in a different way.

At the time of writing, DSP is finalising the text prior to the stated release date of 27 May 2026.

While specifics are not yet known, consultation documents and reports indicate that the next strategy will again span multiple departments and broadly align with EU and UN commitments, while trying to balance economic competitiveness with as of yet unspecified social inclusion targets.