16 October 2025
SDLP West Belfast councillor Paul Doherty has said that dealing with child poverty must be a top political priority.
He was speaking after an SDLP Opposition Day motion calling for Executive action and a fit for purpose Anti-Poverty Strategy was passed in the Assembly on Tuesday.
Councillor Doherty led a roundtable of anti-poverty stakeholders ahead of the motion.
Councillor Paul Doherty said:
“Poverty remains a fixture of the lives of far too many families in the North and it’s heartbreaking to see the impact it has on children and their development. I know that children in this community and many others are going to school without enough food to eat and living in cold homes or other unsuitable conditions.
“Official statistics show that one in five children here are living in absolute poverty, but I fear the real figure could be much higher. At Foodstock we have seen the need for support grow every year and right now things are worse than ever. Our volunteers will stop at nothing to help every single person we can, but we shouldn’t have to. People are living like this due to political failure, it’s a choice.
“Nobody here expects a miracle, but there are practical solutions the Executive and Communities Minister could be implementing to help people. The recently published Anti-Poverty Strategy wasn’t worth the paper it was written on and has left us further than ever from dealing with this issue.
“The SDLP wants, at a bare minimum, to see this strategy revisited with an obligation on all Executive Ministers to prioritise poverty. We need enhanced provision of free school meals, increased childcare support and child welfare payments to give kids the best start possible. No child should see their lives blighted or prospects limited because of poverty and every party must make this a priority.”