department of social and family affairs annual report 2006 - Welfare.ie

strengthened guidelines with the introduction
of a screening mechanism to determine which
policies require a full impact assessment. Training
will be provided for policy makers in the use of
the new guidelines in 2007. The guidelines are
currently available on the OSI website.
> NAPS Communications Strategy
The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion
recognises that there is a need for effective
ongoing communication on the trends and
challenges in relation to poverty and on the
ongoing process for tackling it.
A key element of the work of the OSI during 2006
related to the development and implementation
of a whole of government social inclusion
communications strategy, commencing with the
launch of the new NAPinclusion in February 2007.
The OSI website, which is a very important
communications tool has been widely used
during 2006. It has also been further developed
during this period to reflect the growing
emphasis at national, regional and local level on
social inclusion. It contains links with a broad
range of organisations and bodies in Ireland
and internationally. The OSI website is now
acknowledged to be a valuable resource in raising
awareness about poverty and social exclusion in
Ireland, and further development is underway.
> OBJECTIVE 3
Develop the next National Action Plan 2006-2009.
The preparation of Ireland’s next National Action
Plan for Social Inclusion continued in 2006 with a
series of detailed negotiations between OSI and
senior officials and policy owners from relevant
Government Departments.
The NAPinclusion which will run for a ten year
period from 2007-2016 has been prepared in a
different context to the original 1997 National
Anti-Poverty Strategy. Income support targets
(social welfare rates and pensions) have now
been achieved and, in line with the NESC Report
on the Developmental Welfare State, there is
greater emphasis on services and activation as a
means of tackling social exclusion. This will be
reflected in the nature of the Plan, and will closely
complement the National Development Plan
2007-2013 and the social partnership agreement,
Towards 2016.
> Transnational Level
During 2006 the OSI was represented on the
Social Protection Committee and the Social
Protection Committee’s Indicators’ Sub Group
(ISG) in relation to the formulation and definition
of agreed common indicators for monitoring
poverty and social exclusion. OSI was also actively
involved in the European Union Community
Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion
2002-2006. The programme, which is part of the
open method of co-ordination, aims at supporting
co-operation between Member States on
combating poverty and social exclusion.
> British-Irish Council
The British Irish Council was established under
the Belfast Agreement and works as a forum
within which Member Administrations consult
and exchange information with a view to cooperating
on issues of mutual interest. One such
issue is social inclusion; the Department of Social
and Family Affairs co-ordinates Irish involvement
in this strand of work. In this regard work on
access to employment, education and training
for people with disabilities was completed by the
Council during 2006. A Report on Employment
and Disability was discussed at a Ministerial
meeting held in Edinburgh on 2 – 3 March 2006.
It was decided that the next work topic would
focus on child poverty, with a particular focus on
lone parents. The detailed work programme for
this new strand was considered at a meeting of
officials in Dublin in April 2006.
Irish & British Governments, Northern Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey
annual report 2006
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