ARCHBISHOP of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has urged the Government to show "a tender heart" by urgently devising a new poverty strategy to protect the most vulnerable from the economic downturn.Addressing a St Vincent de Paul conference in Croke Park, Archbishop Martin censured the Government for not having pursued a more effective anti-poverty strategy -- especially in education and health -- in times of surplus.
"A poverty strategy is not just about providing services . . . it is about reading all policies with the optic of the risks to which the poor are likely to be exposed," Archbishop Martin said.
"It is about keeping a watchful eye on the future, ensuring in time that the poor do not become the first victims of shocks over which they have no control. Today we are experiencing the results of our past inadequacies."
Archbishop Martin said that, without a poverty strategy at its heart, an economy would not serve society but would inevitably have an inbuilt tendency to be self-serving.
"As we have ample proof today, when the pillars of an economy become self-serving, it is the poor who are the long-term victims," he said.
"Ireland needs a poverty strategy, especially in times of cutbacks. A poverty strategy is not a luxury that can be put aside when things go wrong, and parked until economic indicators begin to improve in an unknown future.
"Reducing the opportunity of the poor in times of crisis may well be condemning them to exclusion also in times when thing improve," he warned.
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(Source: II)