Human Resources committee  Mr. Martin, I would just add that we've been researching over the last number of years around people who are socially excluded; they're also financially excluded. They don't have bank accounts. They don't have access to credit. So from the point of view of having access to financ

Human Resources committee  Chair, could I make one very quick point around trying to reach the targets, the issue raised by the last member? We're under no illusions; meeting these targets will be extremely difficult. We have two particular challenges. The first is the downturn of the global economy and t

Human Resources committee  One thing that I think is important that we haven't mentioned at all this morning is what Gerry talked about, the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion, 2007-20016, a plan that we have had in place since last year. In Northern Ireland, they also have a similar document called

Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, could I just make two quick points to Mr. Lake?

Human Resources committee  I'll take the other two points around the Lisbon treaty and the contribution of stakeholders. Maybe Bevin might like to also comment on that. I wouldn't envisage any changes from the introduction of the Lisbon treaty. I think all the member states are now committed, as Gerry has

Human Resources committee  Chair, could I maybe follow on from what Gerry said?

Human Resources committee  Okay, I'll be very quick, just to clarify one point. We work with two measurements of poverty. At the European Union level we use a particular formula—60% of the median income, which we consider the “at risk of poverty” level. That's an income measurement. It's quite high in Ire

Human Resources committee  Could I maybe come in on that, Chair?

Human Resources committee  Thank you. It's an interesting challenge, and maybe Bevin would have something to say on this, but one of the problems, Mr. Savage, would be that in a wealthy economy it's very difficult to get the message across that there is poverty. Twenty years ago, or even ten years ago w

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much, Chair. My colleague Bevin Cody is with me, as you mentioned earlier. Bevin will join in the question and answer session later on. First of all, I'd like to say that I join with Gerry and Tim in welcoming this opportunity to talk to you. In fact, I had the p